The Chance At A New Life
by latindancer4ever
Summary: With the number of strigoi attacks increasing, moroi and dhampirs may have to go into hiding. Rose, Eddie, and Janine are taking part in an experiment to see if their kind can live among humans. Can Rose pull it off? Or will she be their downfall?
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everyone!  
This is my very first fanfic! So I'm really nervous to see what you guys think. So please review! This chapter is basically an intro to the story. Enjoy :)**

**Summary:  
With the number of strigoi attacks increasing, Moroi and Dhampirs may have to go into hiding. Rose, Eddie, and Janine are chosen to take part in an experiment to see if their kind could really live in the human world. Can Rose play a human? Or will her super strength and speed be noticed? Rose has never been known to follow the crowd....**

**Disclaimer: All the characters belong to the amazing Richelle Mead.**

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**Chapter 1**

I grunted as Dimitri landed a powerful blow to my left thigh. There was definitely going to be an ugly bruise there tomorrow.

"Point." he stated... again. "Rose, pay attention!" The next thing I knew Dimitri went down into a squat and spun around, kicking his leg out and tripping me from behind. I fell on the mat, outside of the boundary circle.

"Ouch!" I yelled. I rubbed my sore butt and stood up, ready to give him an ear full, when I saw that he had an all knowing smirk on his face.

"That wasn't very nice, you know." I whined like a 5-year-old. Smooth Rose, smooth.

Dimitri looked like he was trying hard not to laugh. Whatever I was about to say next came to a halt as I stared at his beautiful face. I lived for times like these. I felt like I could forget about everything else when I was with Dimitri. I could forget about Mason.... No, I would never let myself forget about my best friend. He saved my life and deserved to be remembered.

It's been almost a month since I fought against my first strigoi in Spokane. I still remember every second of it. Every fucking second. It was getting easier though, I didn't see Mason anymore because of the new wards that have been put up. I used to cross the wards just to see him, but I have to face the truth. And the truth is that Mason's dead, and it's time to move on.

I broke out of my daydream and was about to say something, when Alberta walked in. I thought that she came to see Dimitri, but was surprised when she told me that Kirova wanted to see me. I turned to Dimitri and shrugged before following her. When I arrived, I noticed that Eddie, my Mom, and the Queen - oh yes - were also in the room. okay, now I was confused.

"You wanted to see me, Miss Kirova?" Shit, I don't know what I did, but I was in a lot of trouble. Maybe I could talk myself out of whatever punishment they were gonna give me....

"You're not in trouble Rose, have a seat."

I sat down beside Eddie and took a better look at the people around the table. My Mom was in her business mode, as usual. Things between us were okay, I guess, I didn't exactly hate her anymore - but she wasn't my best friend either. Eddie looked just as confused as I felt, he kept shifting in his seat like he had to go pee or something. He was probably in the middle of a video game when they called him down. Kirova looked slightly stressed, but that was understandable. Having a smart mouth like me and the Queen in the same room was not the best idea. Ah yes, good old Tatiana, I really did hate that bitch. Embarrassing me and Lissa like that when we came back from Portland. She looked smug - as usual - and I didn't like it, her confidence also translates into my living hell, whatever that would be.

Tatiana cleared her throat and sat a little straighter in her chair. "As you all know, the strigoi are combining forces to take out royal moroi and will eventually move on to the entire moroi and dhampir population...." She started.

Tell us something we don't know. Why was I even here anyway? Me and Eddie were just novices. I wish she would hurry up so I could go back to Dimitri.

"If worst comes to worst we will have to go into hiding. Spread out, live among humans, so to speak."

I felt my jaw drop. Live among humans?!?! That's what me and Lissa had done, and I was almost kicked out of the school because of it.

My Mom interrupted her, "How do we know that it's safe? Not just against strigoi, but humans also. What if we were discovered some how?"

Again, the Queen looked smug, "That is why you're here today. The court has decided to do an experiment. Janine, Rose, and Eddie, you three have been chosen to live in the human world for one month."

What the fuck? That's it, she finally cracked, I knew it would happen some day....

"It's all been set up. You will go and live in Texas. Rose and Eddie will be siblings, and will attend a public high school. Janine will, of course, be the mother and will work as a police officer. During this time you will be expected to keep up your training, while containing a low profile at all times."

"WHAT! NO! You have got to be kidding me," Now I was mad. Really, really mad. Do not go near me when I'm angry. "The is such crap! What is this punishment for?" I was shaking all over, that's how mad I was.

"Do not speak to me that way!" Tatiana's eyes seemed to flash, "This is not up for debate. This is an order. You will go and live a human life, our entire race may depend on it."

"When do we leave?" Guardian Hathaway asked, in her business voice.

The Queen smiled, "Tonight."

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I muttered a few more swear words as i threw random pieces of clothing into the suitcase.

"Rose, it won't be that bad! It's only one month! Think about it, you'll be away from all this craziness AND if you pull this off, you'll be my guardian 100%." That's what I love about Lissa, she always sees the good side of things, even if there isn't one.

"It's still going to be hell." Ya, I'm stubborn, "I mean, away from you and Dim... Christian!" That was too close!

"You know how much I'll miss my best buddy."

Lissa laughed, "I'm sure he'll miss you too."

"I'll cry into my pillow every night." Christian walked into the room, followed Adrian and a very subdued looking Eddie.

I noticed that Eddie had brought a suitcase and a duffel bag with him. I sighed and zipped up my own suitcase. I was travelling light because Kirova had informed me that clothes would be provided for me, since most of my clothes consisted of sweat pants and t-shirts. Suitable for a guardian-in-training, but not so suitable for a regular teenage human girl.

"It's time to go Rose." Eddie gave me a friendly smile. I instantly felt bad for being such a drama queen. Eddie must hate this as much as I do, and yet he hasn't complained even once.

Once we got to the car I noticed that my Mom, Dimitri, Alberta, and Kirova were standing in a circle talking quietly. When we reached them they broke apart and smiled at us. I looked into Dimitri's eyes, there was a soft smile in them and something else... sadness?

"So, are you ready Rose?" Alberta asked. I've always liked Alberta, she was fair and seemed genuinely interested in her students.

"Nope, but when have I ever been ready for anything?" Everyone laughed.

After placing my stuff in the trunk, I turned to say goodbye to everyone. Lastly, I turned to Dimitri. I looked up at him and it was like he sent a private message to me through his eyes. Be safe, stay strong. But best of all: I love you.

I wanted to run up to him and kiss him right there. In front of everyone, but that would not be a very smart thing to do.

I got into the car and soon we were off. I turned around in my seat and saw the people who mean the world to me smile and wave goodbye.

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**There's chapter one for you. Please please please review!! I wanna hear your thoughts. I'll try to get the next chapter up by next week. Cheers :)**

**Jessica :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi!! I know that I said I'd upload next week, but hey! It came a week early :) Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: It belongs to the amazing Richelle Mead :)**

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**Chapter 2**

I have my own car. For my own use... It's a mustang.

I guess it was their way of bribing me into cooperating. By giving my a kick ass car. Oh and did I mention that it's red? Like a shiny, cherry red? And Eddie got one too! Except that his is black and an original. If anything, his is even more kick ass then mine! My Mom got a hardcore jeep. It's that green they wear in the army, it was probably also our runaway car if we were ever attacked or if there was an emergency.

The rest of the house was pretty nice too. Nothing like what I had expected. We lived on a huge lot that was surrounded by trees, and wards. Yup, we were totally strigoi safe, unless a human broke the wards. Which would most likely happen if we were ever discovered. The house itself was almost like a farmhouse. A really big, expensive creamy coloured farmhouse. it had a deck that went all the way around the house and there were lots of windows to give it a very open, inviting feeling.

When we entered the house it was exactly the same on the inside. Open and friendly, it almost made me wanna puke. I climbed the stairs to a hallway where the rooms were. I looked at the doors in shock for a second. Were we in someone else's house? One of the doors had a "caution" and "do not enter" sign on it. The second caught me by surprise, it had my name in girly letters on it. The third was plain. It took me a few more seconds to understand this. Then it hit me, of course they were going to make the house looked lived in! Duh!

I slowly entered my room. It looked like it was pulled straight out of Ikea! There were also clothes thrown across the room and make-up scattered on the dresser. The bed was unmade and there was homework stacked messily on the desk. It was lived-in... not.

At first glance it was a regular room. But after closer inspection you would notice that the clothes were brand new, the bed sheets were ironed, and the make-up had never been used. It was mostly Mac too.

I looked around my new room for a few minutes and decided that even if I was there against my free will, I would bask in this luxury... like a spoiled brat. This was going to be so much fun... (evil laugh!)

I exited my room to explore the rest of the house. I noticed Eddie standing standing in the doorway of the room with the "caution" sign on it. It was your average guy room, but like mine, it only appeared lived in.

"They went all the way, didn't they?" Eddie stated, making it a comment instead of a question.

"Yup."

I kept walking and climbed the second set of stairs to find a tiny attic that had a beautiful view of the garden. Maybe we could use this room to hide all the strigoi bodies we'd be killing in the near future. I smirked at the thought.

I went back downstairs and found stairs to the basement. It was definitely going to be my favourite room. It was one big room that was split into two. One half was the gym. It had everything! The second half was a pool to swim laps. It was a good thing I brought my bathing suit.

Before I went back upstairs I noticed two doors on the other side of the room that were side by side. I went over and opened the first door and saw that it was the size of a closet. I quickly flicked on the light and walked in. I was in heaven. Every weapon and gadget imaginable was there. From big guns to small guns, headsets, swords... everything. I closed that door and opened the next one. It was the same size and it was filled with stakes. They were lined side by side along the wall. I don't think I've ever seen so many stakes in one place.

After doing a little victory dance at my incredible find, I went back up and found my Mom and Eddie talking in the kitchen.

"So what do you think Rose?"

"I guess it's alright." I wouldn't give anyone the satisfaction of knowing that I actually liked the house.

"Just alright? I'd say that it's a pretty awesome first house, don't you think?" Eddie smiled, he was always in a good mood. Well, he was before Mason... ya, that.

Eddie did have a point though. This was the first time I'd be living in a house instead of a dorm. Which was kind of depressing if you thought about it.

"Okay you two," my Mom interrupted "You should go to bed early tonight because you have school tomorrow."

I was going to comment on how she had finally taken the role of my mother, and not because she wanted to, I might add. When a word caught my attention.

School. Great.

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After much thought we decided it would be best to take Eddie's car. Both of us taking our separate mustangs doesn't exactly scream "pay us no attention". We found the school, Charter High School, easy enough and went straight to the office. When we entered the secretary looked up and her eyes widened considerably.

I smirked and looked at Eddie, he smiled and looked like he was trying hard not to laugh. Even though we fit in better with humans than moroi did, we were still different. I learned in the two years when me and Liss had run away that humans could sense... something. Somewhere in their subconscious, they knew. Fortunately, humans weren't smart enough to know what that something was.

"Hi, my name is Eddie Hathaway and this is my little sister Rose Hathaway. We're new here." Eddie said in a polite voice.

Haha, I never thought I'd see the day where a man would take a women's last name.

"Oh! Yes... of course dear... um... one moment please." The lady ran to the back of the office to look for our files.

She soon came back she handed us our files.

"Eddie, you are in the senior classes and you, dear, are in the junior classes."

Duh.

"You also have your lunch break and P.E. class together." She looked at me as if she was waiting for me to say something. I was going to give her some sarcastic remark about how I was forever in her debt, when Dimitri's voice came into my head. Calm Rose, be nice.

"Cool... Thank you." I mumbled.

As we were walking out I saw something, or someone, I knew I was going to see sooner or later. When Eddie asked me what was wrong, I couldn't answer him. How was I supposed to tell him that his dead best friend was standing right in front of him?

"Um... I think I forgot my... pencil. In your car! Ya, that's what I forgot! Can you give me your keys so that I can go get it?" I gave him my puppy dog eyes that no one could resist.

He seemed to be debating something, "Are you should you won't just drive off and ditch school?" Ouch, he had so little faith in me.

"I'm serious!" About the ditching, not about the pencil.

"Alright. Just give them back at lunch, got it?" And with that he threw me his keys and walked toward his homeroom.

I walked to the car and pretended to look for my pencil under the seat.

"Mason! What are you doing here? You can't just go popping up wherever you want anymore. I'm living in the human world with Eddie for a month, and I do not want any surprise visits!"

Mason looked at me sadly and I instantly felt bad. I couldn't imagine what he was going through right now. He must be so lonely!

"I'm sorry Mase. I just don't want to be caught off guard around humans."

When I looked back up at him, he had disappeared already.

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"Rose Hathaway?"

"Yes, that's me."

I entered the classroom and handed the teacher - Mr. Hoskyn, the board said - my papers. I felt around twenty pairs of eyes bore into the back of my head. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Mostly because I was trained to sense someone looking at me, and not because I was nervous.

"Have a seat in the back, there."

I turned around to face the class. I knew what they saw. I looked good, and no I'm not bragging. My hair was this awesome, dark brown colour that you couldn't find in a bottle. It curled to just below my shoulder blades. I had sharp, focused eyes and a straight nose. I was also extremely fit from all the hardcore workouts Dimitri put me through.

As I walked to my seat, I took in my new classmates expressions. Some looked excited, nervous, and some smiled at me. I could hear whispering all around me, no doubt talking about the new girl. Some guys were brave enough to look me in the eye and wink, while others stared at my forehead.

Once I sat down Mr. Hoskyn started rambling on. I didn't really care how I did in my classes since I was only here for a month, so I decided to look around the room some more.

"Hey there! My name's Brianne Henshaw. How do you like it here so far?" The girl who had spoken sat in front of me. She wore expensive clothes and too much make-up for my taste. I instantly put her in the category of: Bitch. She was like the human version of the old Mia.

She batted her eyelashes some more, waiting for my answer. I decided that this girl wanted something from me, and I knew what it was. Either:

A) To make me a part of her little clique so I won't be in her way.

or

B) To destroy me if I didn't do things her way.

Either way she considered me competition. I almost thought it was funny!

"I don't know. I just got here." I said in a cool voice.

That shut her up for the rest of class.

After class I was walking out, when this guy came up beside me.

"Hey, name's Carson? Wassup?" He had a goofy grin on his face and seemed laid back.

I liked him instantly. He almost reminded me of...Mason.

"Not much. I'm Rose." I smiled back.

"Hey, do you wanna sit with me and my friends for lunch? I know it must suck to start a new school in the middle of the semester."

"Well, um, I was going to meet my brother for lunch. But if he found some else to sit with, I'd love too." It actually wasn't that hard to call Eddie my brother. Ever since Spokane, Eddie was always looking out for me. He already was my big brother.

"That's cool. Well, welcome to Charter High School! See ya!" With that he ran off.

I smiled at his retreating back and realized that I did feel welcome. Weird.

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**REVIEW!! Pretty please!!**

**Jessica :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello my lovely readers!!! Here is the next chapter. I thought that this story should pick up a bit more...  
So here you are!!**

**Disclaimer: This story belongs to the lovely and talently Richelle Mead!!**

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**Chapter 3**

As I walked toward the cafeteria I saw Eddie waiting for me by the door. When he noticed me, he pulled his face into a pout but I saw that his eyes were laughing.

"What took you so long slow-poke? I'm starving here!"

I laughed and punched him in the arm. As we entered the cafeteria, it became dead silent and I noticed they everyone was looking at... us. Great. The silence only lasted about an eighth of second before everyone went back to what they were doing. As we walked past tables to get to the lunch line, I could hear people whispering about us. Some didn't even try to hide their interest.

"What's up with that?" I whispered to Eddie, "Do we really stand out that much?" It had been going on all day and I had just about enough of it.

"I dunno. I guess it comes along with being irresistibly good looking new kids." He batted his eyelashes at me and kept moving down the line. As he was putting something that looked mildly like barf on his tray - yuck - he sighed and didn't look at me.

"Just don't..." He paused and looked for the right words. After a few seconds he gave up and just spat it out. "Just, please don't go around slapping people. Okay?"

I burst out laughing so loud that people stared at me. I didn't want extra attention but I could help it! It was so funny! Eddie looked terrified - yes terrified - of me. It was hilarious! After a while he soon joined me, probably realizing how ridiculous he sounded.

Once we got our food, we realized that all the tables were already taken. Some people looked in our direction and looked like they wanted to ask us to sit with them, but nobody did. This was a great first day. I felt soo welcome. Bitches.

"Rose!"

I looked in the direction at whoever had called me and spotted Carson waving. I waved back and walked over to him, Eddie on my heels.

When we reached him I noticed two guys and a girl also sitting with him.

"Rose, this is Mark, Hunter, and Lena. Guys, this is Rose."

I smiled at them and studied them closely. Mark was a short guy, around my height. With brown, curly hair and an open, goofy smile, I had a feeling we would be swapping dirty jokes in no time. Lena was a pretty girl. She was Chinese, with shiny black hair and blood red lips. Hunter held most of my attention. he was around six feet, with blond hair and ice-blue eyes. Our eyes locked and I couldn't look away. Something about him almost reminded me of Dimitri. Dimitri... I missed him already.

"Hi! It's nice to meet you. This is my older brother, Eddie."

After introductions, we sat down to eat.

"So, where are you guys from? You don't look like you're from around here." Lena asked.

"We're from Montana, we used to go to a boarding school for athletes." Eddie answered, since my mouth was full. On the way to school, we had made up our cover story.

"For athletes, huh? You guys must be really fit then." Mark stared enviously at Eddies bulging biceps from under his t-shirt.

Suddenly my phone started vibrating in my pocket. I pulled it out, The screen said it was my Mom calling. I knew she wasn't calling to ask how my first day was. I gave Eddie a look a stood up to leave. From behind me I heard him telling them that we had to go, and then I felt him walking beside me. I flipped my phone open.

"102 and Maple street." Then she hung up. I didn't like the feeling in my stomach.

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Me and Eddie arrived shortly. We looked around and I spotted my Mom's new cruiser at the end of the street. As we approached, I saw that the door was wide open and the car was abandoned.

Eddie tapped me on the shoulder and silently pointed toward the darkened alleyway a few feet away. We both pulled out our stakes and slowly creeped into the darkness.

At the end of the alley, I saw something that made me want to throw up the sad excuse for food I had eaten minutes ago. Two bodies. A woman and her son. Lifeless and completely drained of blood.

The anger I felt was so over-powering. I started seeing red. Over the last few months Dimitri had taught me to control my anger. How to reel it in and control my actions. None of that mattered anymore. I wanted to make whoever had done this suffer.

I heard someone approach me from behind. Without thinking, I whipped around with my stake raised, ready to strike. Whoever it was grabbed my arm, making me unable to move.

"Rose! It's just me!" I looked up and noticed for the first time that it was just my mother.

I took a few steps up back and let out a shaky breath. Realizing that I had just tried to stake my mother.

"What happened here?" Eddie asked.

"I have no idea. I was driving by and noticed some movement back here. When I approached, I found them," She pointed at the bodies,"but nothing else. I just went and checked the rest of the block."

Eddie and my Mom talked for a few more minutes. Neither of them seeming to notice that I wasn't taking part of the conversation fortunately.

"Rose?" I looked up and they were both looking at me with concern. "We should go back before we're late for class."

Before I got into the car, I looked back at my Mom covering the bodies in body bags.

"I'm sorry." Who I was saying sorry to - I wasn't exactly sure.

__________________________________

"So, there was this really really cute outfit I saw over the weekend...."

Me and the new "gang" were walking toward the parking lot after school. Lena was beside me rambling on about something the same way that Lisa did. It was a week ago that we had found the bodies. I still felt sick just thinking about it....

"So we're all going to your house right?" Mark nudged me out of my daydream.

"That's the plan."

As we got the the parking lot, I headed towards my car that was parked right beside Eddie's. We had originally only planned on driving one car to school, but we were both receiving so much attention that it wouldn't have made a difference, adding another mustang to the picture.

"Wait... that's your!?!?" Carson looked at me incredulously, "All week we were trying to figure out who's mustangs those belonged to!!"

"Ya..." Eddie laughed slightly "We got them as gifts."

"You got MUSTANGS as gifts?" Lena asked suspiciously.

"Sure, our uncle left us a will when he passed away." I said in a sad voice, looking at the ground.

"He lived in Venice and was this popular artist or something." Eddie said nonchalantly in the same sad tone.

Oh ya, we were badass liars. So what if it sounded totally made up? Humans will believe anything if you kept a straight face.

As I looked back up I caught Hunter's eyes. I stared into those blue sapphires. Over the week, I had learned that Hunter didn't talk much. But when he did, people listened. He had a calming presents and was a pretty nice guy too. It still puzzled me why he was friends with Carson, Mark, ans Lena though. He wasn't anything like them.

When we got home, we all piled out of the two cars and they looked around in awe.

"Rich kids." I heard Mark mutter.

We dumped our stuff on the kitchen table and pulled out our homework.

I absolutely hate homework! I thought the stuff we got at the academy was bad, this was horrible. It wasn't because it was hard or anything. I was just... useless. To me anyway, I mean, I don't need to know math, writing, or history to be a guardian! I need to learn to fight and strategies - two things I was definitely not doing.

After a few minutes Lena sighed and looked up from her work.

"I can't take it anymore! If you don't give me a tour of this mansion this instant, I swear I'll have a hissy fit!"

We all laughed and I lead them upstairs for a tour.

After showing them the upstairs and main floor, I was going to go back to the kitchen to finish my work.

"Don't you guys have a basement? I saw a window when we got here." Hunter asked, raising one eyebrow.

Crap! I didn't want to show them the gym and pool because I was almost positive that one of them would ask what was in the two closets....

"Sure, why not." Eddie replied before I could say anything. "I have to warn you though, you guys might think it's a bit strange."

"What? Do you guys have dead bodies in there or something?" Mark joked.

Ouch. That was a bit too close to home. If you know what I mean.

Eddie lead them downstairs, while I brought up the rear. Following everyone reluctantly.

When we got down they were... speechless. It was kinda funny. Especially Hunter, who is rarely caught off guard.

"Wow." Carson breathed. "No wonder you guys kickass in PE class. You go hardcore!"

I burst out laughing remembering PE class. It was the one class we all had together. If humans actually thought that running twice around a track is a marathon, they should consider the 4 miles I run ever morning.

"Ya... I guess it's just out of habit though. I've been working out for so long that if i don't, I feel all gross and sick even." I said casually.

"What's in there?" Hunter asked. Pointing to the two doors.

"It's just extra equipment." Eddie said quickly. Too quickly.

"Cool, let's check it out." Mark walked over with everyone following him.

As he opened the door with the stakes inside an inch, I ran over and slammed the door shut.

"You don't want to go in there." I thought quickly "It smells like sweat."

"Really gross!" Eddie added, standing in front of the other door.

"Gross!" I repeated.

As the four of them walked back up the stairs, I slumped against the door I had just slammed and let out a breath I didn't know i was holding. I looked over at Eddie.

"That was too close."

"Tell me about it! Try explaining why we have a hundred stakes to a bunch of humans!"

Me and Eddie laughed at that. Little did we know that someone was listening in the shadows....

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**VERY IMPORTANT ANUTHOR'S NOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**I'm afraid I have some bad news..... don't worry I'm still writing! Anyway, for the next month I'll be touring Australia and Southern Asia. Very excited!! Which means = less updates. I know! Please forgive me! I'll TRY to update, but please forgive me if I don't. But I'll definitely be full on when I come back, which is around the second week of August. I am determined to finish this story before I have to go back to school. **

**Oh ya = I'm leaving at the end of this week, so..... if I get enough reviews..... I might squeeze in another chapter before I leave.**

***HUGS* **


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello my Lovely readers!!!! Here it is!!! As you guys already know, I'm going on a trip for a month - so less updates! I still feel horrible. I'll try my absolute hardest to keep updating, but I don't know how much internet access I get. My goal is to finish this story before September though.**

**This chapter is dedicated to "Dimitri's Wife" and all the other Dimitri lover's out there. I just missed him so much! Well, enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: Story belongs to Richelle Mead :)**

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**Chapter 4**

He twirled a lock of my hair and I leaned into him more.

"I just miss her soo much! I know I'll see her in three weeks, but I'm worried!" I let out a sigh and closed my eyes. "I mean, she just got back from Spokane and is probably still traumatized! What was Tatiana thinking!?!"

"She'll be fine!" Christian tried to calm me "You and I both know that she can take care of herself!"

Christian and I were sitting on a bench. Classes were done for the day and there was nothing to do. Rose usually thought of something fun to pass the time.

"Hey," Christian said softly, "Why don't we go to the church...."

I giggled and stood up. If there was one thing that could make me stop worrying about Rose, it was Christian....

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I woke up with the sunlight in my eyes.

"Ew, ew, ew." I muttered. I couldn't believe that I got sucked into Lisa's head again. I was scarred for life!!

After I got ready for school I went downstairs to look for some breakfast.

I felt almost girly today, wearing a cute, green baby doll t-shirt, denim shorts, and flats that matched my shirt. When I had first got here, I had dressed in sweats and runner in case I had to run away from strigoi, but I soon got more confident and just dressed in the designer clothes that were in my closet.

"There's something suspicious about this town," I heard my Mom say in the kitchen "I don't know what it is yet, but I'll figure it out."

When I walked into the kitchen I thought that I was dreaming. He was right there. Just standing there, like he was always there or something. I felt numb all over, I couldn't move, couldn't talk. I took in his tall, muscular frame. His dark, silk-like hair and his broad shoulders.

They must have noticed me because Dimitri suddenly turned around to face me. I looked up at his face and it felt like I could finally breath again. The world seemed to right itself and I felt alive again.

Dimitri smiled at me and I knew that he was thinking the same thing.

"Good morning Rose." He smiled.

Did I mention that he has the most beautiful smile in the world? Kids didn't just call him a Greek god for no reason!

"Hi." I mumbled.

I went and sat down beside him on a stool and pulled out some cereal. I started munching and my Mom headed off to work.

"So, what's up comrade?" I asked.

"I'm just here for a weekly report." He answered "Have you noticed anything suspicious? Guardian Hathaway told me about finding the two bodies"

"Ya..." I muttered. "I don't really get to notice much, since I'm in school all day...."

"Rose, what are you getting at?" He asked, getting straight to the point.

"Dimitri, why do I have to go to school? It's completely useless and a waste of time!"

"Roza," He said in a soft, sexy Russian voice "You and I both know that you're here to see if our kind can live in the human world."

"Ya, ya" I muttered again.

We just sat there for a minute, neither one of us saying anything.

"I have something for you, Roza" He pulled a palm-sized box out of his duster and handed it to me.

I looked at him questioningly and then opened the box.

Inside was the most beautiful necklace I had ever seen. It was made of silver and the pendent looked like an icicle the size of my pinky... only it wasn't.

I looked at it closely and realized that it was a stake.

I'd never seen anything like it before. It was beautiful.

"To keep you safe." Dimitri whispered.

I looked up at him and my vision began to blur. Without thinking, I jumped up and hugged him, burying my face in his neck. At first he just stood there, shocked, but then he slowly wrapped his arms around me. We stood there like that, neither one of us saying anything.

He slowly pulled away and gently took the necklace from my hands and put it on me.

"You look beautiful Roza." He said in a husky voice.

"Thank you." I murmured "Where did you get it?"

"It was made specially for you." Dimitri smiled.

Before I could say anything, Eddie came running down the stairs wearing yesterday's clothes and his hair sticking up at odd angles.

"Rose, why didn't you wake me up! We're gonna be late!!"

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"Whoa. That's sick."

I turned around to find the gang staring at me. We were in PE class and we were standing around, waiting for the rest of the class to get changed.

"What?" I asked Mark, who had spoken.

Instead of answering me, he grabbed my head and turned me around again, so that my back was to them.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" I asked again, losing patience.

I felt several fingers graze the back of my neck and realized that my hair was up. Crap!! My molija marks!!

"What does it stand for?" Hunter asked.

"Uh... it's....um..." Great Rose, what a brilliant time to be stupid.

"It's something the women in our family get when they reach a certain age." Eddie said smoothly, almost like he was bored, "Our Mom has a few too."

"That's awesome!" Lena squealed "I wish my family had some cool tradition like that."

"No you don't!" I laughed after giving Eddie a silent thank you. "It hurts like a bitch."

"Alright class!" The teacher, Mr. Aiden yelled. "Three laps around the track! Go!"

There was a collection of grunts and then everyone started running.

At first, I tried running somewhere in the middle of the group, but it was just so slow!! I was used to running 4 miles in 20 minutes. This was torture! So I moved to the front of the group until I was a good 5 meters in front of the best runner in the class. It was still too slow for my taste, but it was better than before. I heard a pair of feet behind me and soon Eddie came up beside me.

"Too slow for you too?" I asked, not even out of breath.

"This is torture! I was running beside this one guy and he was panting like a dog. It was horrible!" Eddie raised his voice slightly to make it sound extra dramatic. I laughed like an obnoxious 5-year-old.

We ended up lapping some people and finished way before everyone else.

Mr. Aiden walked up to where we were stretching, looking completely dumbstruck.

"How did you guys do that! Not only did you both beat my best runner, he's still running!!"

Mr. Aiden looked so confused that I just had to laugh. It really was hilarious! Kodak moment!

"We used to go to a private school for the Athletes, sir." Eddie answered, always being polite. Except that his shoulders were shaking so hard from laughing.

"Huh." Mr. Aiden muttered, walking away. "School for the Athletes."

"You guys said you were fit! Not super freaks!" Mark panted, followed by an equally exhausted Lena and Hunter.

"How much did you run at your old school Rose?" Lena asked

"4 miles in the morning and 6 miles in the evening." I answered. It sounded human... kinda.

"Super freaks." I heard Mark whisper again.

I was gonna tell him how much of a freak he was when Hunter interrupted me.

"Hey Rose, that guy over there's staring at you. Do you know him or something?" I turned around and saw Dimitri sitting lazily on the bleachers, looking down at me.

Our eyes locked and my heart speed up like crazy. More than it did when I was running! He was just so perfect.

"Wow, he's a babe." Lena breathed.

"You think so?" I waved up at him and he nodded his head at me.

"He's.... my.... uh-" Great, had I become permanently stupid?

"He's our cousin." Eddie said.

"Ya, he's our cousin from Russia. He's just visiting."

"Well, why is he here?" Hunter asked again. He was starting to get annoyed.

"I'll go ask him." I ran up to the bleachers and sat down on the bench in front of him. I felt everyone's eyes on me.

"What are you doing here?"

"You were running too fast." He said, ignoring my question.

"Me and Eddie told everyone we went to a school for the athletes." I said defensively.

"Don't mess this up Rose, you don't want to give the Queen a reason to not make you Lissa's guardian." And with that he stood up and left.

I sat there, dumbfounded. What was he supposed to mean by that? Was the Queen watching me? Waiting for me to mess up? Probably.

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**What's you guys think? Liked it? Loved it? Hated it? REVIEW!! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey again guys! I know I said that Ch. 4 was the last chapter before I left for my trip, but I got so many amazing reviews that I just had to write one more before I left. Enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: It belongs to Richelle Mead, the amazing author!**

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**Chapter 5**

After school I hung out with everyone at Starbucks, minus Hunter because he said he had to go home. I couldn't stop thinking about what Dimitri said. Did Tatiana purposely choose me for this experiment to watch me mess up? Did she really hate me that much that she would risk everything? Fat chance. She was definitely up to something though, and I was going to find out what. I don't know how, but I will.

After that I drove home alone - Eddie went to Carson's house - and when I got there, I noticed something different about the house. I walked up to the front door and noticed that it wasn't even closed. That was strange, I remembered closing and locking the door this morning. Mom would still be working until late and Dimitri already left for the academy, which means that no one was home. I examined the door more closely and realized that it had been pried open.

I told myself that it wasn't necessarily strigoi, it could have been robbers or something....

I took out the stake that was in my backpack and slowly opened the door. I cursed Tatiana for getting us such a huge house, whoever had broken in could still be in here and they had a few hiding places to choose from.

My first mistake was not calling for back-up. I knew that but it was too late now. If whoever had broken in was a strigoi, they would surely know that I was here. If it was just a stupid human, then I just feel sorry for them when I kick their butt.

I slowly entered, with my stake raised. The main floor appeared untouched. Everything was in it's place, even the Wii and and big screen TV. Which meant that it wasn't a robber that broke in.

I slowly climbed the stairs and when I reached the top, I saw movement in the corner of my eye. I whipped around but saw nothing.

"Crap, crap, crap." I muttered under my breath.

I know that I wasn't hallucinating. There was something or someone here.

I entered the door on my left, which was my Mom's office. If it was a strigoi, they would definitely go there because she has some important guardian files in there.

I walked in and noticed that the entire room was ruined! Paper were thrown everywhere, chairs smashed, tables turned over. Suddenly, the door behind me slammed shut and I whipped around to find a man standing behind me. A strigoi.

"Well well, if it isn't the famous Rosemarie Hathaway." The man was around 6"3, with jet black hair, a gaunt face, and of course, blood red eyes.

"Who are you?" I asked in a hard voice. "And how do you know who I am?"

He laughed, which made me cringe internally.

Suddenly four figures appeared out of nowhere and moved towards me. The figures were dress in black and their faces were covered with masks so I couldn't identify them. I raised my stake at the closest one but it was ripped out of my hands from behind me. I turned and saw one of them holding my stake. Strigoi couldn't touch stakes... but humans could.

Was that strigoi so stupid that he'd have humans attack me? I felt so offended!

I turned around to the man who'd taken my stake. Even though I couldn't see his face, I thought there was something familiar about him. I don't know what it was, but I was positive I'd seen him before. I pushed that thought to the back of my mind and I jumped up and kicked the stake out of his hand. I heard a crack of bone breaking.

Suddenly, chaos broke out. The three men - minus the familiar guy who's hand I broke - all attacked me at once. It was quite obvious that they were relying mostly on bulk, rather than strength or speed. I kicked and punched, finally getting the kind of action I've been craving all week.

Eventually I got bored of this and went down into a squat and performed the same move that Dimitri used on me, kicking my leg out and tripping them all in one swift move.

I grabbed my fallen stake and stood up, facing the strigoi.

"Damn" I heard him mutter.

Who was this guy anyway? He must be so pathetic if he sent humans to do his dirty work. Was he really that useless? He must have been some lazy moroi before he turned.

"I'll ask again," I said in a low voice, approaching him "Who are you, and what do you want?"

Suddenly, out of nowhere I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head. I started to see black dots and then nothing. The last thing I saw was his sick, smiling face.

___________________________

"Rose? Wake up!"

I opened my eyes slowly and found myself on the living room couch. Eddie and my Mom were looking down at me with worried expressions on their faces.

"What happened?" I asked in a groggy voice.

Suddenly my Mom went into business mode on me.

"What the hell do you think you were doing? Why didn't you call for back-up?"

"I'm sorry!" I said in an exasperated voice. My head started pounding and there was definitely going to be a bump in the back of my head where they hit me. bitches.

"Rose," Eddie said in a soft voice "What happened?"

So I explained everything that happened. They both looked slightly taken back when I told them about how the strigoi sent humans to attack me, but believed everything. After that, my Mom went to search the premises and set up new wards. Not that they would help in any way, with humans working with strigoi, wards were completely useless. And we all knew it.

____________________________

"Hey."

I looked up from my paper and found Hunter grinning down at me. I was sitting in the school library finishing up some homework.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked, turning back to my paper.

He took the seat across from me and didn't say anything. I looked up at him and found him staring at me intently, not even realizing that I'd caught him looking. His face was a mix of confusion and wonder. What was up with that? I cleared my throat loudly and he jumped and looked embarrassed.

"Sorry," He muttered "I was just trying to figure out how someone so beautiful and graceful, can also be so strong and powerful."

"...And have a good kick." He breathed, obviously talking to himself.

What the hell was that supposed to mean? Did I already kick somebody and not even remember?

"Um...thanks?" What was I supposed to say? No one has ever called me beautiful or graceful. Not in the same sentence anyway.

"So anyway, Eddie was telling me how you two have been practicing martial arts and stuff since you could walk. That's pretty awesome."

Why the hell would Eddie say that? "Um, ya. It's nothing special though." I said, wishing he'd change the subject.

"Well, I've been doing martial arts for a while too! I was wondering if you wanted to swap moves in that kickass gym of yours? The whole gang could come."

Even though he was excited, it almost sounded like he'd been rehearsing before he came to talk to me. Did I really have that big of an effect on guys? Cool.

"I guess so...." I was pretty sure that he'd be spending most of his time on the ground. Oh well, he brought it on himself.

"Great, I'll go tell everyone. See you after school!" He ran off.

As he walked away I studied him more closely. Even though he had pretty long legs, he took swift, measured steps. His head stayed up and he didn't slouch like most guys. I also noticed that he was wearing an unusually long sweater that covered his hands completely. His left sleeve seemed to bulge around where his wrist was. Almost like..... he was wearing a cast.

________________________

"Enough! Stop! I give up!" Mark panted.

"Huh? What did you say?" I asked, lost in thought.

"I said STOP!"

We were all in the gym in our basement. Mark and I were having a race on the treadmills. Although I wasn't even paying attention. All I could think about was the strigoi attack. I had so many questions. Why didn't they kidnap me? What did they want? Who the heck they anyway?

Mark flopped off the treadmill and laid on the ground, catching his breath.

"You win!" He panted.

I looked at the little screen on the treadmill. 3 Miles. Haha, I could still go for a while!

I jumped off the treadmill, pushing the thoughts of the attack to the back of my mind, and walked over to Mark. I looked down at him.

"Had enough yet?" I grinned.

"How in the world do you do that everyday?" He asked, getting up.

I shrugged and laughed, "I told you. Practice."

We walked over to the large mat where Eddie was teaching Hunter and Carson some moves. Lena was sitting on the floor watching. When she saw us, she smiled and waved us over.

"Told you she could kick your butt." Lena said, faking seriousness.

"Ya, ya." Mark muttered.

"HI YA!" Eddie yelled, kung fu style.

Next thing I knew, Carson and Hunter were on the floor. Moaning in frustration that they were on the floor... again.

"What did we do wrong?" Carson exasperated. "We did everything you told us!"

"You didn't do anything wrong." I said in a sensei voice, walking up to them. "You can't expect to get it right the first time around."

"How about the first 100 times around?" Hunter grumbled.

I laughed and went to stand in front of Eddie. Suddenly my face became somber and I crouched into a ready position.

"Let me show you how it's done." I smirk growing on my face.

I struck out and met with Eddie's defensive arm. I struck him a few more times. Sometimes he was fast enough to block me, but most of the time he wasn't. We took turns blocking and striking. I could hear shouts of encouragement on the side, but paid them no attention. I savored the feel of my straining muscles, getting a good workout for the first time since we got here.

Finally, I ended the match by tripping him. I stood over him, smiling in victory.

"Whoo Whoo!"

"That's right girl!"

"Yeah!"

I looked over at my new friends and laughed. Their faces were a mix between awe and shock.

"Wow!" Carson exclaimed, "For such a small girl, you can really hit!"

I was about to reply when someone interrupted me.

"She can, can't she."

I looked behind me, where the voice had come from. My Mother was standing in the doorway, an unreadable expression on her face. Crap.

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**Author's Note!!!!!!**

**So there it is! For those of you that didn't read the top, this is the last chapter before I leave for my trip. I return the second week of August. Please don't hate me!! I feel absolutely horrible leaving it halfway done. I might be able to write a chapter or two during my trip, but it seems unlikely. I do intend to finish this story before Summer's over though!!**

**Review? Pretty please? :)**


	6. Chapter 6

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BAMM!!!!!! Chapter 6!! I'm so proud of myself right now :) I've barely had any internet, I'm been writing for about 15 minutes a week! It was killing me! I know it might not be the best chapter ever, but hey! Give me a break. And don't forget to review! I miss you guys sooo much! Cheers :)

I also want to thank a very special reader of mine, Kirsty, for always leaving me lovely reviews! I feel horrible for never writing you back, you should make an account!!! lol! *hugs*

Disclaimer: It belongs to Richelle Mead.

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**Chapter 6**

_"She can, can't she."_

_I looked behind me, where the voice had come from. My Mother was standing in the doorway, an unreadable expression on her face. Crap._

"Hey Mom!" Eddie forced a smile, "You're home early."

Guardian Hathaway slowly entered the room, her face expressionless. I turned my head and saw that my new friends had unconsciously come to stand in a straight line, facing my Mom. Smart kids. The whole scene reminded me of when a general confronts his army.

I almost burst out laughing when I saw Mark begin to shake. I guess I should go save them.

"Awe, come on Ma! Stop scaring my friends."

I began laughing in a very forced manner and stared Eddie down until he began laughing too.

I gave my Mom a knowing look and her face relaxed slightly.

"What are you kids up to?"

After quick introductions my friends started blabbering on to my Mom about how I kicked Eddie's butt even though he was a whole foot taller than me. My face heated up at their praise and I found a fascinating smudge on my sneaker that I just had to stare at. It really was a beauty.

I suddenly felt a pair of eyes on me and looked up to see Hunter staring at me. I don't think he even noticed that he'd been caught. I've had tons of guys stare at me in the past, but his stare was… different. It wasn't a look of lust or a glare. It was almost like wonder, yet something else entirely. My heart began to pound under his gaze. Only one guy ever looked at me like that.

The same guy that put the beautiful necklace around my neck.

The necklace that might save my life one day.

Feeling self-conscious, I cleared my throat loudly and Hunter seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in. Instead of looking embarrassed like I thought he would, his face was etched with guilt. What was that about? Had he never stared at a girl before? I looked up into his ice blue eyes for clarification but was even more confused. You could even say that I was shocked. Regret.

Before I could decipher anything else, he quickly turned around and walked away. Leaving me completely shocked. Shocked because of his expression and something else. Something that went straight to my heart.

_____________________________

"IT WAS IRRESPONSIBLE, CARELESS…"

My Mom was even better at yelling than Kirova. Which is saying a lot. Maybe it's because she's so scary looking when she wants to be. Kirova reminds me of a vulture. Janine reminds me of… I don't know, a phoenix maybe? Ya, a phoenix! What, with the red hair and all.

I looked at her, not really hearing what she was saying. Maybe because I've heard it so many times before. She was breathing hard, looking completely outraged. It was kinda funny actually.

I looked over at Eddie, who looked like the obedient son. Except for the slight slouch, which told me he was bored too.

"Rose, are you even listening to me?" My Mom asked in a normal voice.

I looked up and saw that my Mom was completely exhausted. She might be scarier than Kirova, but she didn't have the endurance that Kirova did. That was something you could improve with more practice. Trust me; I helped Kirova practice a lot. A lot.

"Yes, I heard you. I'm sorry that me and Eddie acted so foolishly. It won't happen again." I learned the hard way that it was always better to be polite. Might just shave off a week of grounding.

"Yes, well…" Janine stammered. Clearly confused by my mature answer. And people said I didn't have it in me. Shame on them!

Before she could say anything else the microwave alarm went off. My Mom suddenly stood up and ran up the stairs, to her office.

I remembered her saying something about it being some sort of special alarm, the first day we arrived. Something about… a strigoi attack! That was what she said!

I ran up the stairs, Eddie on my heels.

When we entered her office, I stood there in shock. The room had miraculously transformed into our own personal guardian's headquarters. Computer screens whizzed and beeped in all directions.

Guardian Hathaway – a completely different person from the one who was talking to my friends just minutes ago – stood in front of what looked like the main computer. She was typing furiously, but still looked calm and in control.

She turned to us when we entered the room and started barking orders.

"Rose, grab the weapons and stakes from the gym! Eddie, go get the jeep ready!"

We went to work immediately.

As I was grabbing the equipment from the gym, my head was spinning and my heart was pounding loudly. This is what I've been waiting for since I got here! As I went to grab the stakes I stopped short. Was I even ready? Could I kill… again?

Ignoring the feeling of doubt that was growing in my stomach, I got what I needed and headed back up the stairs. Mom and Eddie were in the kitchen, hastily going over the plan. After filling me in and strapping on the equipment, we headed out.

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The room was completely dark, except for a single candle. An old woman, a _vrajitoare,_ sat before the candle. Completely in a trance. A dark figure stood across the room, watching her intently.

Her dry, brittle lips formed soundless words. Everything else was still, silent. The lips paused for several minutes, and then a surprisingly strong voice came from them.

"She's coming."

The dark figure slowly grinned. His red eyes shining in anticipation.

_______________________

"What the hell are we looking at?" I whispered to Eddie loudly.

We had just arrived at the destination that had set the microwave alarm off. Normal people go grab a fork to eat their ready-to-eat-pasta with. We go grab stakes and set out to kill a couple strigoi. I never said our family was normal.

We were standing inside what looked like an abandoned warehouse. There was absolutely nothing here. Trust me, I had to go check. Besides a couple of vomit worthy rats, it looked like no one had been here for a long time. Hence the name _Abandoned_ Warehouse.

"There's nothing here." My mom said, stating the obvious. "Must have been a false alarm, let's go."

As we were walking out, I stepped on something that made a crunching sound beneath my foot. _Please don't let it be a cockroach..._ I thought. I lifted my foot and saw a circular button that was flashing red.

"What the f-" The next thing I knew, I was free-falling into a dark pit. The last thing I saw was Eddie and my Mom's faces peering over the edge over the hole, screaming my name. The trap door closed, and everything was pitch dark.

_______________________

"Ow!" I landed on what felt like a stone floor. Right on my spine. Ouch.

I hastily stood up, trying to get my bearings. I let my eyes adjust to the darkness, and with my dhampir senses I could clearly see my surroundings. I had landed in some kind of stone tunnel, like the ones they always have in Disney movies.

I was on high alert, my mind instantly remembering the attack in my Mom's office. Had I just accidentally landed in some sort of trap? Or had someone purposely wanted me to come here? If someone had wanted me here, how did they know I would step on that stupid button in the first place?

I tried to sense if there was any strigoi nearby. I didn't feel nauseous, so I was fine, for now…

Before I could do anything else, my walkie-talkie started beeping. I turned it on and my Mom's voice instantly came on.

"Rose! Where are you? What happened?"

Static came on and I pushed the button to reply.

"I don't know! I pushed some button on the floor and this trap door under me opened up!"

"We know that, stupid. Where are you?" Eddie's voice came over.

I rolled my eyes. "I don't know-"

I turned around and screamed. A tall, dark figure stood over me, completely motionless.

"Rose!!! Rose!!! What's happening?!?"

I gasped for air and turned back to my walkie-talkie.

"Nothing. It was nothing. Just a… uh… really big rat. Sorry!" I made up on that spot.

I then turned to the dark figure.

"Mason! What are you doing here?!?"

He just looked at me, his expression sad as always.

My Mom came over the walkie-talkie.

"The trap door won't budge. Is there another way out of there?"

I looked around me some more. The tunnel ran a ways down until it was pitch dark. I didn't know what was down there and I didn't exactly want to find out.

"There's a tunnel. I don't know where it leads, but it seems to be the only way out. What should I do?"

Janine didn't answer right away and I knew she was thinking it through. Thinking of all the different scenarios.

"Do you have your stake with you?" She asked, almost reluctantly.

"Yes." I answered instantly.

My hand went to my necklace instead of to the stake at my waist.

"Alright. Be careful. I mean it Rose, no goofing off."

"Copy you." I answered my heart beginning to pound loudly. "Over and out."

I put my walkie-talkie back on my waist and turned to Mason. I looked at him for a minute and he slowly nodded his head, then he disappeared as if he was never there in the first place.

I turned in the direction of the tunnel, taking a deep breath. I pulled out my stake and with a final glance at the trap door above my head; I began to slowly creep down the long, dark tunnel. Not knowing what I'll find at the end of it.

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**So what'd ya think? Brilliant, so-so, or just plain awful?? I wanna know! I go back home on Aug. 10. So I'll update again sometime that week. Thanks so much for being so patient you guys. I've heard nothing but kind things :) REVIEW!! Pretty pleazz?**

***Huggies***


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys! I'm so so so so so so sorry I haven't updated in awhile!!!!!!!!! I got an extremely bad case of writer's block! Please forgive me?? **

**It's not one of my best chapters ever. Basically a filler. But there is some juicy stuff at the end :)**

**Disclaimer: It belongs to the beautiful and talented Richelle Mead =]**

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**Chapter 7**

I continued down the tunnel, my breathing became shorter as my mind considered the different possible outcomes. I'd been walking for about 15 minutes now and I knew that I was getting farther and farther away from the warehouse.

There was absolutely nothing down here! Except for a couple of rats - ew - it looked like no one had been down here for a really long time. As I walked, I replayed all the strange things that had been happening lately in my head.

First, there was the strigoi attack in my mom's office. Or, more correctly, the human attack. Once they knocked me out, all that they had done was put me on the couch. Which I found quite disturbing, I'd have expected them to kidnap or kill me, maybe break a leg or two. Then the microwave alarm goes off for no apparent reason. Leading us to a stupid warehouse. And now I am alone in an underground tunnel in the middle of nowhere. Story of my life. When I find the idiot who put that trap door there, they're gonna regret-

_Beep beep._

I jumped slightly at the somewhat loud noise in the silent tunnel. I looked down and saw my walkie-talkie flashing. I huffed in annoyance and brought it up to my face.

"What?" I snapped.

"Rose?"

I stopped short. Barely able to breath. That voice, that deep, Russian voice. The one I missed so, so much. My free hand went to my necklace and I felt myself smile.

"Rose?" Dimitri asked again when I didn't answer. "Where are you? Are you alright?"

I was now. But I didn't say that out loud, not wanting to sound like a school girl crushing on her hot mentor. Which I kinda was... _Stop it Rose!_ I mentally slapped myself. This was not the time to get distracted.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said in the carefree way I knew only I could pull off. "How 'bout you comrade?"

"Rose, Rose..." He gently chastised me, but I could detect a small smile in his voice.

"Hey, how did you get here so fast anyway?" I asked.

"I was already on my way here when Guardian Hathaway called." He answered.

"I see. Well are you gonna get me outta here or what?" I asked, suddenly wanting out of this hell hole and into Dimitri's arms. Ya, I wish.

"We're trying to pry open the door..."

"This'll work!" I heard Eddie in the background with my super sensitive hearing. He sounded like an excited 10-year-old.

"Eddie!" I heard Janine chastise him. "We are not blowing it up!"

_What the heck were they doing up there?_

"It's the only thing we got." Dimitri said, obviously talking to Janine and Eddie.

There was silence for a few seconds. Then I heard Janine mutter something under her breath and Eddie cheer.

"What in the world is going on?" I huffed, annoyed I was being left out.

"We're gonna blow up the trap door!" I heard Eddie yell. I rolled my eyes at his enthusiasm but laughed. His excitement was a nice change from the gloomy tunnel.

"Rose?" Dimitri said, turning his attention back to me "In two minutes you can start walking back the way you came. We'll meet you half way."

I suddenly heard my mom whispering to Dimitri.. Only catching the words "strigoi" and "down there". I pieced it together and realized that she wanted to see where this tunnel would lead to. To see if it lead to a strigoi nest or something. Which, if you ask me is pretty stupid, since there were only, uh, _four_ of us and two of us were still novices. But I could finally see where I got my pride from. _Like mother, like d-_ I can't believe I just thought that. I stopped walking and stared in front of me, down the tunnel. But like before, it just went on and on, not showing the end. If there was one.

I then heard Dimitri's calm voice interrupting Janine's. Probably telling her all the cons of this situation. He must have won in the end because I heard my mom walk away in a huff. Dimitri told me to make my way back to the trap door. It took less time going back the way I came - mostly because I was sprinting the whole way back.

When I was pulled out of the hole I immediately jumped into Dimitri's arms. I closed my eyes and breathed in the familiar smell of his aftershave. This was heaven.

Someone cleared their throat behind me. I suddenly realized what I was doing and jumped back. I looked over and Janine and Eddie who looked both confused and amused. I cringed and my face heated up in a very un-Roselike manner. Trying to break the tension, I patted Dimitri on the back. More like pounded, actually.

"It's, uh, good to see ya teach!" I smiled.

Dimitri gave me his half amused, half disgusted look and Janine just sighed.

"It's past your bed time Rose." She muttered, walking back to the car.

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The bell for lunch had just rung and me and Hunter were walking out of our science class. Today, I was wearing a vintage looking Butterfly dropout summer dress that had their signature antique looking designs on it (A/N pic of dress on my profile), coupled with a cute pair of cowboy boots. I had also let my hair naturally curl down my back. To say the least, I got many admiring looks today... of the male category.

I couldn't help but notice Hunter today. He looked extremely handsome in a plain white cotton button-down, and diesel jeans that weren't about to fall down at any moment. I also noticed that I was right about my earlier assessment, around his left arm was a cast. I should probably ask him about that....

"Hey Hunter?" I asked.

We had reached his locker and I was leaning against the locker beside him.

"Wassup?" He replied, putting his books away.

"If you don't mind me asking, what's with the cast?"

"Oh, uh, I got it playing football." He mumbled.

I looked at him for a few seconds, then snorted. Not too lady-like. "Ya right, numbskull, you don't even play football." My smirk threatening to turn into a full blown laugh fest as I saw the tips of his ears turn red.

"All right, you caught me." He admitted, sounding like he wanted to be somewhere, anywhere, but here.

He paused, looking for the right words. "I was play-tackling with my little brother when he pushed me... I landed wrong."

Ah yes. That was a very, _very _good reason for lying. Oh man, to be beaten up by your little brother.

"And, uh, how _old_ is your brother?" I tried to ask in a mature voice. It wasn't working very well.

I saw him gulp visibly and he turned to me, looking me straight in the eye. "Four."

For a minute I forgot what we were talking about. All I knew was that he had the nicest blue eyes I had ever seen. I seemed to be falling. Just falling. He took a step closer to me and when I looked up, his face was only inches away. All I had to do was go on my tiptoes and then....

_Slam!!_

We jumped apart hastily as someone slammed their locker shut.

Oh man. I was stuck. What could have happened if we weren't rudely interrupted? I didn't even want to know.

"I gotta go to my locker." I mumbled to him, practically running away.

How could this have happened? How could I have been so blind. So stupid. He's a human for god's sake! I'll be finished here in more than a week!!

As I closed my locker and was heading toward the cafeteria, something hit me. Something that not only made my heart speed up, but it made me want to throw up. Or maybe crawl into some dark little hole and just die. I was that ashamed.

Dimitri.

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**What did you think? Sorry again for such the long wait! But I've got good news.......**

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	8. Chapter 8

**I'm so so so so sorry for not updating sooner!! Please forgive me. I've had a bit of writer's block, plus I've been super busy. I know I said I was trying to finish this story before summer ended, but I decided to expand on it a bit. Thanks to all who've stuck with me! Enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: It belongs to Richelle Mead :)**

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**Chapter 8**

One month. We've been here for one month. And we're not going back to the academy yet. Why, you might ask? Because _Guardian _Hathaway just had to be a big mouth and tell the Queen about the strange occurrences that keep happening. Haven't people realized yet that those things only happen to me!?!? I'm sure the rest of the moroi and dhampir race will be okay.

So now we're stuck here until we figure out what the hell's going on around here. I wish the moroi would get to it and switch over to be a democracy like the rest of the country. That'd get Tatiana out of everyone's faces. I thought almost smugly.

It was Wednesday evening and I was jogging around our yard. Which was quite large, I might add.

I missed the second pair of feet, jogging beside me. I missed the heat, that seemed to radiate off his body. My hand went to my necklace. I hadn't taken it off since Dimitri had given it to me. Even though it was long and a little sharp, it never bothered me. I knew it would keep me safe.

I suddenly came to a halt. In front of me was all that was left from the strigoi break-in a few weeks ago. They had broken in at the corner of our estate. Janine had gotten the fence fixed immediately, but the bushes and undergrowth were still trampled. I was about to move on, when something shined in my eye. I moved toward it and knelt down. There, partially covered by some dead leaves, was a dog tag necklace. I picked it up and turned it over in my hands. The tag had a lightning bolt on it that looked like it was made of diamonds (A/N pic of dog tag on my profile). It looked strangely familiar, like I'd seen it before. I turned it over to find two foreign words carved into the back. немертвый and Власть.

"So what does it mean?" I asked Janine.

I was sitting on one of the plush love seats in her office. Janine Hathaway was pacing in front of me, the necklace clutched in her hand. Shortly after discovering the mystery necklace I had run home and showed it to her.

"Undead and power." She muttered, still pacing. "It's Russian for undead and power." It was obvious that she wasn't paying me any attention. I could almost see the wheels turning in her head, her mind going a mile a minute.

"It must have been from the break-in." I added, stating the obvious. I stood up and held my hand out to her, she handed me the necklace and looked at me questioningly. "You know, I think I've seen this somewhere. I don't remember where though."

"Somethings wrong with this place..." Janine whispered, staring out the window. "It's almost like someones going after you."

"I wouldn't be surprised." I laughed ruefully.

She looked over at me and smiled softly. "Get some sleep Rose, we'll talk some more about this later."

The next day at school was excruciating. All I could think about was the necklace. Have you ever had the feeling that you're forgetting something, but you can't remember what that something was? It was gnawing at the back of my mind!

I was in the girls bathroom, fixing up my make-up. The old Rose would laugh and point at any bimbo who would fix their make-up several times a day. But since coming here, I had definitely changed. I would even go as far as saying I'd soften up a bit. I kept telling myself that the second I go back to the academy I'll go back to my hard, boyish ways.

But the truth was that I liked looking nice. I admired shoes and cute tops as much as the next girl. My life as a novice had no room for any of that though. I had to treasure this freedom while I had it.

"Cute outfit Rose!"

I looked up to see Brianne Henshaw standing beside me, fixing her hair. I haven't seen much of her since my first day of school. It turned out I was wrong about her. She really wasn't that bad, aside from the giggling and designer clothes. Not that I was one to talk, my own closet only consisting of Marc Jacobs, Gucci, and Delia's.

"Um, thanks. You too." I gave her a small smile.

Today she was wearing a baby pink sweater set and denim skirt that went to just above her knees. Her strawberry blond hair was in a ponytail with a few wisps around her face. She reminded me a lot of Lisa. Maybe that's why I tolerated her.

The bell rang and we headed to class. I had English, the class I liked to call Rose Down Time. I sat in the very back, behind some giant. I'd be surprised if the teacher even knew I was there. I was about to have my daily snooze when the teacher, Ms. Hillman, announced today's topic.

"Mystical creatures!" She said in that booming voice that all teachers use. "Can anyone give me an example?"

I perked up, waiting for a certain "mystical creature" that was sure to come up.

"Vampires!" Someone answer.

Bingo.

"Ah yes, the bat shape shifter." Ms. Hillman said.

I silently snorted. I've never really considered what humans thought of us. I had seen a few vampire movies in the past, all of them dealing more with strigoi than moroi. I knew that humans thought we were evil creatures.

For the next hour I sat quietly while the class discussed the peachy world of make-believe. I had my own discussion in my head though. If vampires existed, why not mermaids or Big Foot. Who's to say they _don't_ existed, for that matter.

The final bell rang and everyone gathered their books. But before anyone could leave Ms. Hillman announced one more thing.

"Your homework is to write a story about your mystical creature of choice. You have no limits, so be creative. Take your time to make it good. It's due next week."

As I was walking out I thought about my story. Should it be about vampires? It would be extremely easy. I could write about a battle that we learned about in Stan's class. I guess it would technically be cheating... what the heck. It'll make my life so much easier.

I don't know why I was thinking about it so much. I didn't come here to write a paper for English class. As I thought about it, I realized that this place was kinda growing on me. I _did_ care about what marks I got in class, which was something I never gave a second thought about. I did care about the new friends I made.

I suddenly stopped walking in the middle of the hallway. _Oh. My. God. Who the heck am I? Have I really changed _that _much!?!_ I thought in disbelief. As I was thinking this, someone ran right into my back, causing both of us to fall.

I looked at the person who ran into me, to find my good buddy Mark. "Watch where you're going dork." I teased.

He chuckled and started collecting his fallen books. "That goes both ways Hathaway." After he got his stuff in order, he helped me with my books and soon we were both upright again. "Hey, can I hitch a ride with you today?"

"What, your mommy's to busy to come pick you up?" I smirked.

Mark pouted his bottom lip and hung his head "Yeah." He sniffled.

We looked at each other for a couple of seconds before bursting out into laughter. We were laughing so hard that the people around us starting giving us funny looks. I slung my arm around his shoulder. "Come on!" I laughed.

When we reached the parking lot I saw Eddie, Hunter, and Lena leaning up against my baby. I guess I was giving everyone a ride today. As we all filed into the car we decided to go out for pizza since it was a Friday.

By the time we were heading out of the restaurant the sun was already setting and it was getting chilly. I had the radio blasting and we were all singing along to Lady Gaga's "Love Games" loudly. Everyone was relaxed and having a good time. I was tapping my fingers against the steering wheel, when suddenly a wave of nausea hit me. It was like a punch in the gut.

I slammed the brakes, causing everyone to jerk forward.

"What the hell Rose?" Eddie yelled, more shocked than angry.

I didn't pay him any attention. My eyes were straight ahead and I was clutching my stomach. I looked over at Eddie and he instantly understood what was going on. Earlier in the month I had told him about my ability to sense strigoi. He had been skeptical at first, but believed me. Now, his eyes roamed the area around us. Trying to find the cause of my sickness.

I pulled over and turned the headlights off, so that my friends wouldn't see anything... traumatizing, but kept the car running. The car was completely silent. No one even daring to breathe. I didn't know what to do. If I had kept on driving, I could have dropped the three in the back off somewhere, told them we had to do something and come back. But now that I've stopped, there was no going back. _Stupid, stupid Rose._ If anyone was injured, I would never forgive myself.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Eddie slowly and silently reach under his seat to pull out the stake that was hidden there. I copied him. I looked behind me at Mark, Lena, Hunter. They looked pale faced and confused.

"Rose?" Lena whispered, looking at me with wide eyes. She was so innocent, they all were. I had to keep them safe.

I took a deep breath. "Lock the doors, and don't open it for anyone but me and Eddie." I sounded calm and confident. Hoping to reassure them.

Before they could say anything, me and Eddie got out of the car. I saw Hunter reach over to the front seat to press the auto lock bottom on my door. I knew it wouldn't stop a strigoi, but it made me feel better.

I took in my surroundings. I had stopped on the side of the highway, beside a forest. Great. There were no houses or buildings nearby.

"Stay here and watch the car." Eddie murmured. He started walking to trees. Taking silent, cautious steps.

My heart was pounding. I didn't see anything, which scared the shit out of me. Out of nowhere another wave of nausea hit me and I spun around. I was instantly punch in the stomach, which sent me flying. My back hit the side of my car. I distantly heard Lena screaming, but I couldn't let her distract me. I took a step toward the strigoi but Eddie got there first.

As he fought with the strigoi, I saw something move in my peripheral view. It was fast. I spun toward it and lashed out. I knocked a second strigoi in the head. It didn't seem to faze him at all. As I continued to fight with him, I learned that the strigoi was good. Really good. He must have been an amazing guardian before he turned.

I cried out in pain when he slashed my upper arm with his nails, leaving four long, bloody gashes. I stumbled back, grabbing my injured arm. He grinned darkly at me and licked the blood off his fingers. The image almost made me want to hurl. Instead I fought back, harder. With my stake raised, I threw all my strength into it, looking for some sort of opening. I was finally able to slash the side of his neck, right below the ear. He cried out in pain which gave me enough time to plunge the stake into his chest. It was done.

He crumbled to the ground and laid there, lifeless. The nauseous feeling left me as I stood over him, breathing hard. I eventually looked over at Eddie to find him sitting on the ground, staring at the strigoi that he had killed. I walked over to him.

"Are you okay?" I asked, concerned.

"Ya..." He breathed. He then looked up at me. His expression unreadable. "That was my very first kill."

"You did good." I offered him a smile. "But we still have bigger problems."

He looked at me questioningly and I nodded my head at my car. Mark, Lena, and Hunter had witnessed everything.

"Crap." He muttered, standing up.

He got that right.

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**So what'd you think?? Let me know! I'll try my very hardest to update soon! REVIEW!! :)**

**Kirsty - I'm so glad you liked the last chapter and I hope you like this one! I can't say if Hunter's evil or not... how could you even think of something so preposterous!?! HAHA! Australia was great!! Although it wasn't technically a vacation. I was there touring across the country with my dance company, AND I got paid! Great summer job huh? How in the world did you get Blood Promise early? I finished it too and was slightly disappointed. I miss my Dimitri :( Lol. Thanks a ton for all your great reviews love!  
*hugs***


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey Guys!! Here ya go!**

**Disclaimer: It is all Richelle Mead's. Except the humans!! They're mineeee :)**

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****Chapter 9**

_He looked at me questioningly and I nodded my head at my car. Mark, Lena, and Hunter had witnessed everything._

_"Crap." He muttered, standing up._

_He got that right._

"What do we do?" Eddie whispered, his voice slightly panicked.

I stared at the interior of the car, which was completely motionless. Oh boy.

"First, we have to get rid of the bodies." I muttered, looking down at the two lifeless bodies.

We dragged them behind some bushes and Eddie attached a tracker to one of the bodies. This way we'd know where they are so that we could come back later and properly dispose of them.

When we got to the car I stood by the driver's door and gently knocked on the glass. No one in the car moved. I sighed and looked over at Eddie, who was standing on the other side of the car. This was going to be harder than I thought.

"Please open the door you guys." I pleaded gently. "I promise you're safe now."

Very slowly I saw a hand reach out and press the unlock button on the inside of my door. I let out a breathe I didn't know I was holding and gently opened my door, Eddie following my lead. I sat down in my seat, closed the door, and put my seatbelt on. Still, no one said anything. I finally found the courage to look back at the friends that I'd probably just lost. They all looked shocked.

"Hey, it's going to be okay." Eddie said to them, obviously not knowing what else to do.

"What the hell was that?" Mark whispered.

"We'll explain everything when we get to my house." I said. "Okay?"

I waited for all of them to nod their heads before turning back to the front. At least they didn't scream and point and call me satan's child. Which was always a positive in my book.

The ride to my house was eerily silent. The whole thing was horrible. I probably just ruined these kid's lives forever. Good going Hathaway.

"Rose?"

I looked at Lena through my rear view mirror. She looked panicked. I was instantly alert.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

She pointed at my right arm, which was front and center, where everyone could see it. "You're bleeding." She replied, her voice shaking slightly.

I looked down at my arm and sure enough, the whole thing was a bloody mess. Literally. The gashes that the strigoi had made were much deeper than I had first thought. The bleeding itself had mostly stopped but my entire arm was covered in blood. That wasn't traumatizing at _all._

"Oh ya, I guess I am." I said, trying to sound nonchalant. "Don't worry about it though, it's not as bad as it looks." I looked back briefly to give her a small, reassuring smile before turning my eyes back to the road. The rest of the ride was completely silent.

When we finally got to the house, we all filed out of the car slowly. My mom must have been watching for us because she instantly opened the door and stood on the porch, a "motherly" smile plastered on her face. She must have noticed all the tension though, because her smile instantly faded.

"Is something wrong?" She asks.

No one answered. Instead we all walked into the house quietly. Lena, Hunter, and Mark all squished onto one of the couches in the living room while Eddie sat on the loveseat. I walked into the kitchen to grab the first aid kit. As I was washing as much blood off as I could, my Mom walked in.

"What's wrong?" She asked in her guardian voice. Before I could reply she gasped and grabbed my arm. "What did you do?"

Why does she assume that it's always my fault? "We ran into some trouble." I muttered, giving her a meaning full look. "Don't worry, no one was hurt." _Except me. _I interrupted as she opened her mouth to say something.

"Do they know?"

I nodded, my eyes on my arm. I heard her sigh, then she helped me with my arm. We worked in silence, thinking of what to do.

"What now?" I asked her once she finished bandaging my arm. The gash was starting to sting and all I wanted to do was go to sleep.

"Follow my lead." Was all she said. She went to the living room and I followed her. The state of the room was pretty much the same. Silent, tense. Guardian Hathaway cleared her throat and everyone looked up at her.

"Hello guys." She said to them, smiling. "I know what you saw today was.... strange."

Before she could say anymore, Hunter interrupted her. "What the hell happened out there?" He demanded, "It was either some sort of twisted joke, or Rose and Eddie actually _killed _two people tonight." His voice cracked at the end.

"Listen to me!" Janine said. "We have to tell you guys something, something that no one else can know."

Was she actually going to tell them? I panicked and took a step back.

"We're working undercover for the police." Janine stated. Oh man, was she actually going to pull the whole "I'm an FBI agent"?

I looked over at the humans. Waiting for them to deny it and run screaming from the house, yelling "killers! KILLERS!!" Ha, that would have been funny. For about two seconds. Instead they looked relieved, to my surprise. Exhaling loudly and laughing slightly. I looked over at Eddie and saw that he was watching them too, a small smile on his face.

Mark stood up and looked over to where I was standing by the doorway. "You're the police!?!" He laughed, obviously letting out all the tension that had been building up. I nodded my head once and smiled ruefully. Their reaction had been exactly what Janine had anticipated. I looked over at my Mom and she winked at me.

"Wait a minute!" Lena exclaimed, "So, what exactly happened tonight? Did you actually kill two people?" She looked over at me with hope in her eyes, wanting me to deny it. What was I suppose to say to that? Should I deny it, or should I admit that I did kill those "people".

"I...we...."I stuttered. "Well- "

"Not exactly." Eddie interrupted. All heads turned his way. "The reason we have come here is because of all the strange killings in the area."

"What killings?" Hunter asked, sounding more sarcastic than interested.

"The police here are keeping it a secret." Janine replied. "They don't want to scare people away."

Everybody seemed to be thinking this over. It was true though. There have been a few disappearances and such in the area. My mom would know.

"Look, it's late. Why don't you all stay the night and we'll talk more about this later." Mom said.

Everyone nodded their heads and they went to go call their parents. After that we all got ready for bed. Lena and I would be sleeping in my room, and the guys would be sleeping downstairs in the living room. Once my head hit the pillow I was out like a light bulb. Today's events had definitely taken its toll on me. I was ready for some dreamless sleep. Something I couldn't have, apparently.

Suddenly I was on the beach. I looked down at myself and saw that I was in my workout clothes. This was new. I knew immediately where I was, but the more I looked around, the more I realized that this dream felt... different. Almost unstable even.

"Adrian?" I yelled. "Where the hell are you? I want to get some sleep!"

"Rose?"

I turned to the voice and to my surprise I saw... Lissa.

"Oh my god!" I screamed. I ran up to her and crushed her in a giant bear hug. She hugged me just as tight. I pulled away just enough to see her face. She had the biggest smile on her face.

"I did it?" She whispered.

"Very well done, cousin." We turned to the third voice and saw Adrian walking out of the trees. He walked over to us and gave me a hug. I smirked and hugged him back, I hadn't seen either of them for a month.

"I see you've been practicing." I smiled at Lissa.

"Yes! I missed you so much that I was determined to dream-walk." Lissa was practically glowing. "I've been practicing on Christian, but I haven't been able to get into his dreams yet." Her eyebrows drew together as she was deep in thought.

"Hmm. I guess it's because of your bond that you were able to go into Rose's dream so easily." Adrian said. It made sense.

"So how have you been?" Lissa asked, quickly forgetting about not being able to go into Christian's dreams.

I thought about it. _How have I been?_ In truth, I loved the freedom. I was finally living for myself, and it was the best feeling in the world. But how could I tell Lissa that, or anyone, for that matter? All my life I've been told, _they come first._ I was never very fond of that rule, but if I could protect Lissa, than I could accept it. But what about now? Now that I've finally had a taste of freedom, how could I go back?

As I thought about this, a lump grew in my throat and white-hot anger filled me. I realized that I resented my life. I resented whoever had decided to make dhampirs the slaves of moroi. Who were they to say that they were better than us? That we had to serve them, because they were too weak to protect themselves?

"Rose?"

I broke out of my thoughts to see Lissa and Adrian looking at me with concern. I was breathing deeply and emotionally exhausted, but I forced a smile for their sake and told them about the human world. I told them about my new friends, my teachers, my car.... All the things that I would miss so, so much. Of course, I left out some parts, like what had happened tonight. They didn't need to know, and it would only worry them.

Finally, they left and I could go back to sleep. Real sleep. I pulled the blanket up to my chin and dozed off. Before I was completely out, I heard a faint noise coming from downstairs. I was too tired to find out what it was though. I probably should have.

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**So what did you think?? I know there wasn't a lot of Lissa and Adrian, but you'll see them again soon! I promise! I wonder what that noise downstairs was...hmm. REVIEW!! Please! Me like :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Guess who's back....?  
****I'm gonna start by saying: SORRY!!! I know I haven't updated in about, what, 2 months? I've been extremely busy lately, but I know that isn't an excuse. Some people have probably lost all interest in this story because of the long wait, and I completely understand if you have! I know I probably would have! Anyway, this chapter isn't the best I've ever written. It might be kinda confusing and it's definitely a strange one. Rose is going through some... issues. And not exactly the teenage kind. Enjoy :)**

**Big, big, BIG thanks to my #1 reader, Kirsty, for pushing me for weeks to finish this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: It belongs to Richelle Mead.**

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**Chapter 10**

The next morning I woke up grumpy and sore. A few bruises had developed during the night where the strigoi had hit me. It wasn't anything new really, but it still pissed me off. Everyone else seemed happy and relaxed though, so I didn't say anything. As we were eating breakfast and watching Cartoon Network the door bell rang. I went to go answer it, and I found a particularly sexy Russian smiling down at me.

"Dimitri!" I exclaimed, "Are you here for a check up?"

He nodded, "Yes... and-" He lowered his voice "I had to clean up a mess this morning."

It took me a minute to realize what he was talking about. When it hit me it felt like a conk in the head: He had to dispose of the two dead strigoi.

"Careful Rose, soon you'll catch up to me." He smiled again.

"I guess..." I already had two molnija marks. Two reminders etched into my skin of the death of one of my best friends. I hadn't been thrilled when I had gotten them, because all they reminded me of was Mason. But this one, the third one, was different. _Because they will always remind me that I saved three innocent humans, _I thought with a small smile.

When we walked into the kitchen together everyone looked up. Lena's face lit up and she jump off her stool, making her way over to us.

"Hi! I'm Lena. You're Rose's cousin right?" She asked Dimitri, holding her hand out to him.

Dimitri shook her hand and raised his eyebrows at me questioningly. "Yes, I'm Rose's _cousin_, Dimitri. Nice to meet you."

"Does that mean that you work for the police too?" Mark interrupted, walking up to Dimitri and also shaking his hand.

Dimitri paused for a second, "I guess it does." He answered, going along with it.

I mentally winced. I should have told him about our cover story. I looked over at him and saw that his expression was neutral. He wasn't worried about these humans, but he wasn't exactly comfortable either.

I took this time to study Dimitri. He looked the same, with his cowboy duster and his hair pulled back into a low ponytail at the nape of his neck. He stood ram rod straight out of habit, but he seemed relaxed. His chiseled face was freshly shaven and the corner of his lips were quirked in an amused smirk. Just him being in the room was enough to make my heart hammer in my chest. _Well, it used to anyway._ My head shot up in surprise. Had I really just thought that? No, I was still in love with Dimitri... right? I looked over at him and tried to understand my feelings. I realized with some relief that he still made my heart pound, except that it felt almost distant. So faint, that I had to zone in on it. Crap. How could I let this happen? How was I so stupid?

I suddenly felt suffocated. Like I couldn't breath anymore. Everything just seemed to happen around me in slow motion. I saw Eddie and Mark laughing, but I couldn't hear them. I saw Lena flirting with Dimitri, but I felt nothing. A wave of panic washed over me, and I couldn't take it anymore. I bolted out of the kitchen, ignoring someone calling to me in concern. I threw open the back sliding door and ran out into the morning sun blindly. I didn't know where I was going, I just put one foot in front of the other.

Someone had once told me that they ran to try to outrun their fears. At the time I had thought that was ridiculous. Now I understood, because all I wanted to do was run away.

I finally stopped when I reached to end of our estate. The eight foot wall was in front of me, blocking me from my freedom. _What freedom?_ I thought bitterly. I've never had it, so why did I feel like I was losing it?

I was breathing hard, more from the emotion overload than the running. I placed both my hands on the wall and rested my forehead against it. It was so easy, this human life. So full of laughter and love. Although I've lived in the human world before, this time was different. When I had run away to Portland with Lissa, I was constantly on my guard. Letting no one get close. I had taken care of her around the clock, barely letting her out of my sight. But Lissa wasn't here now, so I had let my guard down. I had opened myself up to these strangers and I loved it. _Then why don't you climb over this ridiculous fence and run away?_

My head shot up. I looked around me, but I was alone. That voice in my head... it wasn't mine. Sure, it _sounded_ like mine, but it wasn't._ Who are you and what do you want?_ I thought, feeling stupid that I was talking to myself.

_What do you mean? I'm you. _The voice answered.

_No. You're not! You're not.... _I repeated with less conviction. With everything that's been going on lately, I wasn't sure about anything anymore.

_Come on, climb over the fence. You're so close to your goal! _The voice said encouragingly. It sounded pleasant, like a teacher encouraging a student.

A sense of peace enclosed me and I knew what I had to do. I had to go. I had to get away from this horrible cage. I scurried up the stone fence and stood on it. I looked out and was amazed at what I saw. On the other side of this wall was a beautiful lake, the water was pure blue and ducks swam happily. I looked to my left and saw the road that lead out of town. All I had to do was follow it. I looked behind me, back to the house. I could see through the kitchen window and saw my friends laughing. They were happy and _free. _That's what I wanted, no needed.

I stared at them sadly when I heard a rustling beneath me. I looked down and saw two piercing eyes staring back up at me.

"Rose, what are you doing?" The man asked quietly.

He was familiar. Very familiar. I stared down at his face, trying to remember who he was. Somewhere in my mind I knew him. My heart knew him. He was... Dim-

_Rose! Listen to me!_ The voice returned, screaming for my attention.

_That man is nothing to you! He is an impostor, you must run. Go!_

I ran.

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I don't know how long I ran, I just put one foot in front of the other. I didn't even know where I was going! Every time I wanted to stop and rest, it seemed as if my body just ran even harder. Eventually I stopped recognizing the landmarks around me. I didn't know which direction I was heading in and I din't know what time it was. My body ached and I was completely famished. Yet my body kept going, it had a mind of its own.

As I ran, I clenched my fists, which were pumping back and forth in front of my chest. The pull of my muscles caused a sharp pain in my upper right arm. I looked down to see that the wound there must have opened up, the blood soaking the sleeve of my shirt. I swore under my breath and willed myself to stop. My body wanted to refuse but I was determined.

Finally, after several minutes of trying, I came to a sudden halt. It was almost as if I was breaking out of a trance. The stupidity of my actions came crashing down on me and my legs began to shake violently. They collapsed under me and the next thing I knew, I was sitting on the side of the highway. I looked up and noticed for the first time that the sky was completely dark. The stars were twinkling brightly and the air was silent.

_What have I done?_ I asked myself. A lump grew in my throat and the road in front of me blurred. I brought my legs up to my chest and buried my face into my knees. I was ashamed. Ashamed of what I had done, but most of all, I was ashamed that I had let the two people I love most in the world down. Lissa and Dimitri.

I crawled away from the highway, laying down behind a bush where passing cars wouldn't see me. I cried myelf to sleep.

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**I know it's not great. But please review! I give you permission to yell at me all you want. So get to it!! :)**

**Kirsty - Thanks again hun for all your support and pushing! I means the world to me. Back to your old reviews: No, I haven't read the True Blood series. I've heard a lot about them and I'm curious to see what they're about. I'll definitely give them a try someday. **

**Yes, I do have facebook. I'll put a link up on my profile. Anybody who wants to add me, go right ahead. Just tell me who you are first. I like to know who I'm accepting ;)**

**Jessica xoxo**


	11. Chapter 11

**Yes, I'm actually alive. I know I haven't updated in.... forever! I'm so sorry! Life has been pretty hectic lately and I haven't had much time for anything. This chapter is basically a filler. Yup. I'd like to announce that I'll try my absolute best to update on a more daily basis from now on. Spring Break starts next week, so hopefully I'll get a few chatpers in next week. Thanks for everyone's reviews, especially for my new readers out there!**

**bored-2-death: Please don't cry!!! If you'll cry then I'll cry :D**

**Disclaimer: Richelle Mead owns it all! Well, except for the humans, they're MINE!**

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**Chapter 11**

Ow ow ow...

I slowly opened my eyes, taking in my surroundings. The sun was high in the sky, shining its toasty warm rays down on me. My clothes were drenched in sweat and my hair...ya, it was bad. I cautiously sat up and winced in pain. My body ached everywhere. My legs were sore from the hours of endless running and I felt light-headed from dehydration and hunger. I scratched my head, trying to remember why and how I got myself in this situation in the first place. Something about a dying need for freedom....

I chuckled dryly at my stupidity. _Good going Rose._

I stood up slowly and brushed the loose dirt off my clothes. Then I dug into my pocket and pulled my phone, I scrolled down my contact list. Mom, _no._ Lena, _no._ Dimitri... _maybe not so smart. _Hunter. I quickly tossed the idea around in my head and clicked send before I could change my mind.

_Ring... Ring... Ring..._

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's Rose," I said into the phone, "Could you-"

"Rose! Where the hell have you been!!!" Hunter yelled, cutting me off. "We've all been worried sick! Your Mom is furious!"

I winced. "Ya, about that... I sort of need you to come get me."

He sighed loudly. "Okay, where are you?"

"Umm...." I looked around me for the first time and realized with a start that I had no idea where I was. On either side of me was empty highway, nothing but road. I saw a small town a few miles away on my left, but other than that, there was nothing except me and the open desert. I swear I've seen this all in a movie.

"You don't know where you are, do you?" Hunter asked in an amused tone.

"No, I don't." I muttered. In the distance I saw a small collection of buildings and guessed that it was a town. "Look, there's a small town not too far from here. I'm gonna run over there and see if someone can help me."

We said our goodbyes and soon I was off at a steady jog towards the town.

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I arrived about 15 minutes later and was covered in a fresh layer of sweat. By the position of the sun I knew that it was around noon, the hottest time of the day. I'm in Texas, it's late Spring, its hot, and I'm in sweats. _Never, ever, again._ I thought. I looked around me for someone who looked friendly enough to ask for help. I spotted and old lady sitting by herself on a bench, a couple of grocery bags by her feet. She looked friendly enough. I walked over to her.

"Um, excuse me?" I asked politely.

The lady looked up startled. As if I had scared her or something, even though I had made sure to walk up to her in her line of vision.

"What'd ya want? Ya tootsie!" She spat at me.

I jumped back, surprised. Who was this lady anyway? I had just woken up on the side of the freakin' highway, in the middle of nowhere, starving, and covered in my own grit! Was help so hard to find these days!?! Geez, humans are so annoying. I gritted my teeth together.

"I was just wondering if you could tell me where I am?" I asked, trying to be polite.

She looked done her nose at me. Sniffing at my sweaty T-shirt and dirty sweats.

"You're not from around here." The lady said, ignoring my question. "Did your boyfriend dump you on the side of the highway, by any chance?"

My jaw dropped and I gawked at her. Seriously? Are you kidding me?!? Who does she think she is? The Queen of England? _I don't need this right now. _I stormed off, not looking behind me. At this rate I'll be stuck here forever. There was no one else on the street, which was a little odd since it was the middle of the day.

After wandering around aimlessly for while longer I finally came across an open diner. _Might as well get something to eat, _I thought. I walked in and was surprised to find that the whole place was full, and when I say full, I mean, like, six families or something. Heck, this was probably the whole town. I headed straight for the bathroom, where I attempted to look somewhat presentable. After cleaning up as best as I could I walk over to the counter and take a seat on an empty stool.

As I skimmed through a menu that was in front of me the diner got considerably quieter. I lifted my head slightly and looked around the room behind me through a shiny napkin dispenser that was placed in front of me, not turning around. Everyone had stopped talking and was looking at...me. My face heated up and I ducked behind my menu.

After a few minutes people seemed to realize that I wasn't going to do anything and they went back to minding their own business. I relaxed slightly and took a closer look at the people around me. No one here really stood out. They were all dressed plainly, more for comfort than style.

"Hey there, what would you like?"

I looked up to find a waitress smiling at me. she looked to be a few years older than me, had short blond hair, and had a slender build. Her smile seemed genuine enough and I couldn't help but smile back at her.

"Just a cheeseburger and water is fine."

"Coming right up." She walked to the kitchen to give the chef my order and came back with my water. "Here ya go." She placed the water in front of me and I quickly snatched it up and gulped down the entire contents in one shot. A glass of cold water had never tasted so good in my life.

"Whoa, slow down there slugger!" She laughed, "More?"

"Yes please!" I laughed along with her.

She refilled my glass, chuckling. "I'm Brooke Nielson, by the way."

"Rose. Rose Hathaway." I smiled.

Brooke whistled. "Rose Hathaway, huh? There's a fancy name you don't hear everyday."

I laughed, embarrassed. "My full name is actually Rosemarie Hathaway. Which is even worst!"

"Where are you from? If you don't mind me asking." Brooke asked.

"I'm originally from Montana, but my Mom got a job here so we moved down to Austin." I answered.

She looked shocked. "Well, that's not exactly next door. How did you find yourself here?"

"Well, I uh...... I don't know exactly." I answered. What was I supposed to say? That I ran here? No, she was just a human, she wouldn't understand.

"By the way...." My face heated up. "Where am I exactly?" I felt pretty ridiculous asking her this.

Brooke looked at me funny and then bursted out laughing. I didn't see what was so funny, but I cracked a smile anyway. Her laugh really was infectious. She kept laughing until she noticed that I was serious.

"You're in little old Bailey Town girly." She said as the chef called out my order. She walked off to get my burger, seconds later coming back with the nicest, juiciest cheeseburger I have ever seen. Well, not really, but when you're starving, just about anything will look delicious.

I devoured it and then patted my stomach contently. Brooke laughed some more. "You hang tight Rose, I'll be right back." She walked over to a booth in the corner where a couple had just sat down and started chatting with them.

I decided to call Hunter so that he can come get me. I whipped out my phone and punched in his number.

_Ring... Ring... Ring..._

"Ya?" Hunter answered, sounding slightly rushed.

"It's me. I'm in a place called Bailey Town. Can you come get me?" I asked.

"Bailey Town? Geez Rosie..." He panted.

In the background I heard the distant pounding of feet and yelling. It sounded like it was coming closer. Hunter swore under his breath.

"Rose, I can't talk right now I-"

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

The call was cut, and there was silence.

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**I know, it sucked. I introduced a new character though! I don't know how long I'll keep Brooke around, we'll see. Oh, by the way, I'm thinking of finding pictures for all the characters. I have a pretty good idea of how I imagined the humans to look, but I need some help with the original characters of VA. Send me your ideas!!! REVIEW! :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Here ya go! It's not the longer chapter ever, but I promised to have it up by this week. Enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: It belongs the Richelle Mead.**

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_In the background I heard the distant pounding of feet and yelling. It sounded like it was coming closer. Hunter swore under his breath._

_"Rose, I can't talk right now I-"_

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

_The call was cut, and there was silence._

I stared down at my phone for a second. What had just happened? Was Hunter in trouble? What could he have possibly done? I sat there, confused. I decided to call him again. I dialed his number and brought my phone up to my ear. Seconds later a mechanical voice came on.

_I'm sorry, this number is non-existent. Please hang up and try again._

Huh? What was going on? I checked my phone to make sure I had dialed the right number. I had. I started to panic as different scenarios went through my head. What if he was attacked? Mugged? _Calm down Rose, you need to get back home. You're no use to him here. _I thought.

"Rose?"

I looked up and saw that Brooke had returned. Her eyebrows were knit together with worry.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

"Yes, I'm fine." I forced a smile, "I just, can't get a hold of my friend." I explained, holding up my phone.

Brooke smiled at me gently, then looked down at my neck.

"That's a pretty necklace." She commented.

I looked down to see that I had unconsciously been playing with the necklace that Dimitri had given me. The miniature stake. It had become a habit, playing with it, whenever I was nervous or worried.

I caressed it fondly, then smiled up at her. "It was given to me by a friend."

"Like a boyfriend?" She asked, wriggling her eyebrows.

I thought about it. What was Dimitri to me? Definitely a friend. A teacher. _The first man I ever loved... _I shrugged my shoulders. "It's complicated." I said.

"It's it always?" Brooke sighed as a wistful look came upon her face. I watched her, amused, as she went off into her own little world. I cleared my throat and laughed as she snapped back into reality.

"So, do you have a special guy?" I asked.

"Is it that obvious?" Brooke smiled softly, "Yes, his name's Ben."

"Brooke and Ben, huh? You sound like quite the couple." I teased.

"Oh, tush!" She slapped me playfully.

Suddenly my phone started to ring. I looked down at the tiny screen, hoping that it was Hunter. Was I ever wrong.

"Oh boy," I muttered.

"Your special guy?" Brooke asked.

"The one and only," I breathed. Brooke giggled quietly as I answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Rose." Dimitri's voice was even and calm.

"Hey. Look, I know what I did was stupid and-"

"Rose, I can't come get you right now." Dimitri interrupted.

I sat there, confused. "What?" I asked rudely.

I heard Dimitri sigh. "Another strigoi attacked has happened. Janine and I have to stay here and do damage control. Do you think you can find a place to stay for the night?"

I looked over at Brooke and asked her if I could bunk at her place for the night. she smiled and nodded.

"Ya, I got a place." I said into the phone.

"I'll be over there sometime before noon tomorrow. Bailey Town is about a four hour drive from here." Dimitri said, his voice still even and calm. In the background I could hear my mom ordering someone around. Probably Eddie.

"Alright, I'll see you then."

"And Rose?" Dimitri added as I was about to hang up, "We need to talk tomorrow."

And with that he hung up. I just sat there, the phone still up to my ear. Whatever he wanted to talk about, it couldn't have been good.

"Rose? Rosemarie Hathaway?"

I looked up to see Brooke waving her hand in my face, she was laughing gently.

I shook my head to clear my mind and forced a laugh. "I'm here."

"Good to know!" Brooke teased, "Look, I'll be off in an hour, so you can just hang out here until I'm done. Okay?"

I nodded my head. She was about to walk off when I called to her, she turned around and looked at me questioningly. I bent down and pulled out my back-up credit card that was in my shoe and handed it to her. She was about to protest, but I interrupted her.

"No. You're already letting me crash at your place. The least I can do is pay for my own meal."

She sagged her shoulders dramatically and sighed loudly, "Fine." She grumbled, walking to the cash register.

During the next hour I just sat there quietly. I know, strange. My whole life had become quite strange lately. I thought about what had happened yesterday. What _had_ happened exactly? It felt almost as if there was someone else in my body. Someone who was controlling my movements and thoughts. But that's crazy right? Right?

Before I knew it, I was in Brooke's apartment. The place was small, but very warm and comfy. There were a lot of floral prints and pastel colors. It was all so... girly, for a lack of better words. It was perfect for Brooke.

"Well, this is it." Brooke said, after giving me the grand tour.

"I like it." I plopped down on her couch, "It's very... you."

She laughed, "You got that right!"

"Well, I'm turning in. You know where the bathroom is and I've put out a towel and toothbrush for you. Goodnight Rose."

"Night!" I called after her as she retreated into her bedroom. I was going to be sleeping on the couch tonight, which was like a heaven compared to the dirt ground that I slept on last night.

I sighed, suddenly feeling the exhaustion creep up on me. I stood up slowly and shuffled my way to the bathroom. I winced when I caught a sight of my reflection. I looked terrible, there was no other way of putting it. _Brooke must be dumber than I thought, letting someone as filthy as me into her home,_ I thought.

But that's what I liked about her so much. She was so innocent and carefree. I bet that it never even crossed her mind that I might be a thief or a robber.

I looked at myself one more time before I stripped off my grimy clothes and jumped into the shower. The water felt amazing, and I relaxed for the first time since I left my home. I quickly washed my hair and body, and then just stood under the warm water, letting it sooth my dry skin that had been under the scorching sun all day.

I looked down at my toes and was startled when I saw that the water coming off my body was pink. I searched my body, looking for where the blood was coming from. I found that it was from the four long gashes in my arm, given to me by that strigoi on the side of the road. I noticed that the stitches that my mom had put in had broken sometime when I was running. It wasn't bleeding heavily, but I was concerned that it hadn't healed yet. Dhampirs usually healed faster than humans.

I sighed warily, the calming effect from the water gone. I shut off the water and got out of the shower, wrapping my body in the big, comfy towel that Brooke had left out for me. I grabbed a wad of toilet paper and gently dabbed the area around the gashes dry. I then went through the cabinet's and found a pair of tweezers and a bottle of rubbing alcohol.

I took a deep breath and started to pull out the stitches with the tweezers. I grunted in pain, not wanting to make too much noise, in fear of waking up Brooke. Blood started to flow down my arm and I quickly grabbed the toilet paper to stem the blood, dropping my towel in the process.

I've had stitches pulled out before, many times in fact. But I've never had to do it myself. I think that it hurt more this time than any other because I knew when the next stitch was coming out. I was anticipating the pain. Plus, whenever Dr. Olendzki did it, she would give me pain killers. My arm started to burn, as I yanked out the stitches faster, wanting to rid myself of the pain quickly. Pull, grunt, pull, grunt....

Finally, I pulled out the last stitch and I almost shouted for rejoice. Then I looked at the bottle of rubbing alcohol. Great. _Why me? Why!?!_ I thought miserably.

I sighed and cursed some more as I found a hairbrush and stuck it between my teeth, to bite on. I put my bloody arm over the sink and grabbed the bottle. Deep breath. I poured. I won't go into detail about what it felt like. I'm quite sure we've all experienced the burning sensation of lighting your insides on fire. Great fun!

After that, I bandaged my arm and cleaned up my mess. I dried off my body and put on the pajamas that I found on the counter, courtesy of Brooke.

I quietly made my way back to the living room. As I laid down on the couch, I yawned in exhaustion and gently rubbed my arm, which was starting to itch. I closed my eyes and started to doze off. Right before I passed out, I felt it. I was going to dream tonight.

And dream I did.

Chapter 12


	13. Chapter 13

**Sorry for the long wait!!! Life's been busy busy busy! Thanks so much for all of the reviews and nagging readers telling me to hurry my butt up! I really appreciate it :)**

**IMPORTANT A/N: I've made myself a website and I've posted pictures of the characters. The link is on my profile, it's called "Homepage". I may or may not have posted up pictures of all of the characters yet. It's still being worked on. At the bottom of my website I've left an area for you guys to leave your comments. Feel free to tell me what you like or don't like :)**

**Here's the website if you can't open it on my profile : http://latindancer4ever[dot]weebly[dot]com**

**Disclaimer: Richelle Mead**

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**Chapter 13**

Images started to swirl around my mind. I saw mountains, valleys, and lakes. I saw cities and people as well. People of all backgrounds it seemed. The images finally settled and I found myself in a meadow. But not just any meadow, Lissa's and my meadow. When we had lived in Portland, we had always come here. We just came here and talked. It was a place where we could be ourselves, where we didn't have to pretend.

"Rose?"

I whipped around and was violently tackled to the ground. I looked up and saw Lissa smiling down at me, tears in her eyes. I squealed in delight and hugged her back, practically squeezing the life out of her.

It felt like we just sat there for hours, talking and laughing. She brought me up to date with everything that was happening back home. How Adrian could finally bring a whole rosebush back to life without passing out, and how Christian had "accidentally" lit Jesse Zeklos's hair on fire in Culinary Science class. I chuckled at that one. I really did miss them, not that I would ever say it out loud.

"So, how are you?" Lissa asked.

"Good. Every thing's good." I said quickly, hoping she wouldn't make me elaborate. No such luck.

"Uh huh..." Lissa raised her eyebrows at me. "So... why'd you run away?"

My head snapped up when she said that. I gulped. "Who told you?"

"Eddie called. They're really worried, you know." Lissa tilted her head and peered at me closer.

I sighed through my nose and looked off to the forest behind her. I saw birds in the tree and squirrels running around, looking for food.

"Things have been really strange lately..." I trailed off.

"Rose?" Lissa put her hand on my forearm, which was propped up on my knees. "What happened to you yesterday?"

I looked down at my hands, a small frown on my face. I couldn't lie. Not to her....

"I heard a voice yesterday." I whispered. "I heard someone in my head."

I heard Lissa gasp. I looked up and was shocked to see that she was shaking, her eyes dark and angry.

"That's not funny Rose!" Lissa yelled. She got up and stormed away, into the forest.

I jumped up and started following her. What had I said? I was only telling her the truth.

I jogged past her and then turned around so that I was jogging backwards, facing her. Lissa continued to ignore me, her face down.

"What did I say?" I demanded, panting. I was getting angry. I had just told my best friend that I might be going crazy, and what does she do? She walks away, like it's all my fault that my head might not be screwed on properly.

Lissa continued to ignore me, so I stopped jogging. She ran into me and before she could pull away I grabbed her shoulders so that she couldn't walk away again. She didn't say anything, she just stood there with her head down. I took the time to study her. Her hair had grown longer. It was past her shoulder blades now and was slightly curly. She had told me months ago that she had always wanted long hair, but was afraid that she couldn't pull it off. Having Christian in her life had definitely boosted her self-confidence.

"Look at me Liss, please?"

She reluctantly looked at me. Her eyes were sad, yet distant, as if she was remembering something from the past. She sighs and says in a small voice, "Do you remember, a couple months ago, when everyone thought that I was going crazy?" Her bottom lip quivers, "Sometimes, I almost thought that I could hear voices. I didn't hear words exactly, just a quiet humming in the back of my mind that would never really go away."

I stared at her, completely mortified. Was she thinking that the same thing was happening to me? That's impossible... right? No, I'm not going crazy. I've just been a little stressed is all. Just a little stressed....

"Lissa," I gripped her shoulders tightly until she looked up at me "I'm fine, really."

she looked at me, unbelieving.

"You know what, forget I said anything. Really, it's no big deal. I was just tired yesterday, is all." I smiled, trying to convince her that everything was fine.

"Are you sure?" She asks.

"Yes. Yes I'm sure."

She finally smiles. A real smile. And I know that everything will be alright.

"Come on, let's go back to our meadow."

As we traced our steps back, we settle into a comfortable silence. It really does feel like old times. We walk side by side, our shoulders touching. The air is clean and light. As my mind wanders, I think about everything that's happening in my life. I want to tell Lissa about it, I really do. But, I can't. She wouldn't understand. She's too fragile, too breakable.

The night goes on, and we talk. We talk about everything. Everything, and yet nothing at the same time.

"It's time for me to go now Liss." I said reluctantly. I miss her already.

"Yes, I guess it is." She smiles sadly at me. I know that she feels the same way.

"Goodbye Rose..."

The meadow starts to fade, and then all that is left is darkness. Sweet and bitter darkness.

* * *

"Rose?"

I hear a cheery voice, calling me. I moan and turn over, pulling the soft and warm blanket over my head.

Against my will, my mind starts to wake up slowly, my body groaning in protest. I hear Brooke sigh loudly.

"Get up, sleepy head!"

Suddenly, my blanket is yanked away from me, and cold air blasts me, making my bones shiver. I curl into a ball, trying to warm my body back into sleep.

"Five more minutes," I croak.

Brooke's persistent though. I hear her walk around the couch and then she opens the curtains. The bright sun shines in my face and I put my hand up, trying to block the harsh rays. The sudden movement sends a dull thud of pain up my arm. If I wasn't awake before, I definitely am now.

I open my eyes slowly, blinking in the bright light.

"Ah, good, you're awake." Brooke claps her hands and rubs her palms together, a mischievous smile on her face. "I made you some pancakes. It's the family recipe, you know. Ben loves them!"

"Uh huh. That's great." I muttered sarcastically as I walk into the bathroom and ready myself for the long day ahead. I heard Brooke giggle on the other side of the door.

"You know Rose, I actually took you as an early riser kinda person." I hear her say. After washing my face I look down to the pajamas that I was wearing, wondering what happened to the clothes that I was wearing yesterday. I peek my head out the door and asked her.

"Oh yes, I forgot," Brooke gets up and walks over to the couch where my clothes laid. "I washed them for you, they were a little grimy and I didn't want you to be uncomfortable for the long ride back." She hands me the clothes and the smell of wildflowers washes over me.

I smile and thank her, once again praising my lucky stars for finding someone as sweet as her. I get changed into the clean clothes and left the bathroom, feeling like a brand new person.

After eating her - quite delicious - pancakes, we head back to the diner. I take a seat at the counter and Brooke bustles away, taking orders from the customers. After sitting still for about twenty minutes, I start to fidget. I hate sitting still. It really is the worst-

_Ring... Ring..._

My phone starts ringing and I pull it out of my pocket. The little screen on the front informs me that it is none other than Mr. Belikov himself. I answer it quickly.

"Hey comrade!"

"Rose. I'm about five minutes away from the town," Dimitri's voice washes over me "where are you?"

I rant off the directions to the diner and then we hang up. I waved my hands, trying to get Brooke's attention. She finally notices me and smiles, walking over. As soon as she's beside me I tell her that Dimitri's almost here. She clapped her hands and squealed. Literally.

"Ooh! I want to meet him!" She said. She tells her boss - Marty, his name tag read - that she was taking a five minute break, and then pulled me outside. We stood at the curb for less than a minute before I saw my Mom's navy green Jeep Wrangler cruising down the street, Dimitri behind the wheel. He pulls up in front of us and turns off the engine. As he gets out of the car he pulls off his aviators and the sun shines down on his hair, and boy, is it a sight. I heard Brooke sigh dreamily from beside me, and before I knew it she bounced over to him, her hand outstretched.

"Hi, I'm Brooke!" She smiles.

Dimitri looks down at her and smiles charmingly, "I'm Dimitri. Thank you for taking care of Rose for me."

"Oh, not at all! We had so much fun, didn't we Rose?" Brooke looks over at me and I smile back, amused at the way she eyes were practically glazed over.

"Well, it was nice meeting you Brooke," Dimitri started "But I'm afraid that we'd better get going. It's a long ride back."

"Oh yes, of course." Brooke runs over to me and hugs me fiercely. "I'm gonna miss you Rosie. And I'm pretty sure that you forgot to mention how hot your hubby is." She whispers in my ear. My face heats up at the term "hubby" and I sputter like an idiot. When she finally lets go of me she winks knowingly, then waves goodbye to Dimitri.

I get into the car after Dimitri and fasten my seatbelt. Brooke walks over to my open window and rests her arms on the door. She smiles softly at me.

"You've got my number, right?" She asked.

I patted my pocket where her phone number was nestled and nodded. "I'll call you."

Dimitri starts the engine, and soon we're off. I turn in my seat and wave at her. "You'd better!" I heard her yell.

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Dimitri and I had been on the road for a good twenty minutes. Neither of us have said anything yet. He looked lost in thought, like he was thinking about something important. My mind started to wander as I looked out at the scenery. I mused about yet another friendship formed with a human. Brooke and I had bonded on some level. She and I were different in so many ways, and yet, we got along fine. I usually don't get along with new people, mainly sticking to people I'd known for years. Yet, here I was, with a whole bunch of new friends. Friends, I would probably never see again once I go back to the academy. I wonder what they'll think, when we leave. Mark, Lena, and Hunter already think that we're part of some special organization. But what about Carson and Brooke? What will they think happened to us?

"Roza?"

I was startled out of my thoughts and turned to Dimitri. His eyes were still on the road, but he glanced at me briefly. I nodded for him to continue.

He sighed loudly before turning to me fully. His eyes were emotionless and focussed, his posture straight and lethal. This was Guardian Belikov. "Rose, I think that it's time for you to go back to the Academy."


End file.
